The Life, Love and Losses of Zhen Ji
by Lady Grasshopper
Summary: Her hair was like a shadow. She had brown eyes filled with the will that only a woman could possess. Her fair skin was flawless. Her figure was shaped like a goddess. Her name was Zhen Ji, and she was born for greatness. Please Review!
1. I Wanted More for Myself

I Wanted More for Myself

Her waist long hair was like a shadow flowing behind her. She had golden brown eyes that were filled with the will that only a woman could possess. Her fair skin was flawless, and often compared to marble. Her figure was shaped like that of a goddess. Her name was Zhen Ji, and she was born for greatness.

But today would be far from what she considered to be greatness. For today she would be married to Yuan Xi, the weakling son of the warlord Yuan Shao. How could a beauty like her fall into the hands of such a man?

She had fallen into his hands, not fallen for his touch. As much as she hated it, she would be married to him to strength Yuan Shao's hold on the north, her home. The strength of the emotions she felt for going back home could not be measured. She longed for her father's small, but homey mansion. She shouldn't call it small considering they were the wealthiest family in their region, before Yuan Shao came, but they did good with their wealth. They had many well paid servants that would otherwise be living on the streets. The Yuan's servants were paid with meals and a roof over their heads, something the Zhen's servants were given in addition to their generous pay. She missed the family of the Zhen house. There, everyone was considered a part of the family which resulted in the importance of rank fading away.

Everything was so cold here in Yecheng. She didn't know what other word to use to describe it. It wasn't cold meaning the weather. The further south she went, the warmer the air was. It was cold, meaning emotionless. It was like living in a brand new house that had not been settled into yet. The Zhen's house had always been filled with the pottery or paintings she and Jing Jia had made. The only things that hung on the wall here were maps and the Yuan's golden seal.

Even she had turned cold since she had been here. If Jing Jiawasn't here, she may be lost already.

She turned and looked in the mirror. She had a mirror back home, but not one that hung on the wall. The reflection of her face was perfect. The entire mirror was perfect with its gold fame and smooth glass. She may be a beauty rivaling the Lady Diao Chan, but she was emotionless as any statue.

"Come now, is that a face for a bride?" Shao Len asked.

Shao Len was her other maidservant. She was thirty years her senior. Her father had sent Shao Len with her when Yuan Shao took her from the house.

"_Shao Len will take care of you like a mother and Jing Jia will continue to be your friend in that place."_

Those were her father's words. It was the last thing he said to her that day. She would see him and her brothers again today, after the ceremony, when she was a married woman.

"Considering that the bride price Yuan Xi paid was letting my father keep his position and life, why should I be happy?" She asked.

Shao Len finished tightening the lace on the back of the dress and responded;

"Such is the norm. We're women in a man's world. We can only try and make due with what we are given."

"What if we're not given enough? What if we need more?" She questioned.

"That's our curse."

"Zhen's has a point, I want to do more than wait on her all my life." Jing Jia added. "No offense intended of course."

"Jing Jia!"

"It's alright Len. I wanted more for myself than to be waited on." She reassured.

Jia giggled, but Len shock her head.

Jia had never been gifted with social graces, but Zhen had never minded it. Shao Len on the other hand, was very proper and never tested the lengths of what she could or shouldn't say. That was the reason her father picked her to go with her to the Yuan's. That was what he said anyway, but she also knew that it he chose her because Len knew how to care for a child. She could barely stand the thought of bearing Xi's child, but at least she would have Jia and Len.

"You should consider being Lady Zhen's handmaid an honor. She is marrying the son of the most powerful warlord of our time." Len told Jia.

"But I don't love him!" She interrupted.

"You will learn to love him." Len reassured.

She highly doubted that.

"I can't imagine the kind of mind washing Yuan Xi will have to do to accomplish that." Jia added.

Zhen smiled. Len was less than amused.

"Jia, learn to control you're tong or our lord will have it removed."

Zhen turned to face Len.

"I don't want you to ever call any of the Yuans 'lord' or any other title of respect in my presence, but if one of them is here, then you may so that you won't have your tongue removed." She ordered. "Otherwise, their name will due."

Len raised her eyebrows for a moment then shock her head in disapproval but she didn't respond, which was wise of her.

None of the Yuans deserved to be called 'lord'. She felt slightly different about the Lady Liu, Yuan's Shao's Wife. Lady Liu had embraced her like a mother would. Her mother had died years ago. She grew up with her father, three brothers and three sisters.

"You look beautiful." Len stated.

Zhen looked in the mirror. Len had pulled her hair in a bun under her halo like headdress that had a blue veil flowing down to the floor. She had a bold golden collar with a bright turquoise jewel in the center and was adorned with other gold jewelry all over her body. Her blue off shoulder dress fit tightly regardless of the weight she had lost since she arrived here three days ago. How thin could the Yuans expect her to be?

The dress was elegant, but she hoped she would be wearing it to her wedding except with a different man. She could never forget Wang Bo. He was her eldest brother's best friend, and best looking one. She could picture his well shaped body in her head without even looking at one of the paintings she had made. Oh she missed him. He could have been the warm light in her life. He was always laughing and smiling. She did plenty of things she wouldn't normally do just to get a response. The only flaw in him was that he couldn't keep up with her when they went riding.

She smiled when she remembered how they snuck out one night and went to the lake. That's when he had taught her how to swim. She had been terrified of the water before then. Wang Bo just had a way to make her trust him. Maybe it was the brightness in his eyes when he smiled, or the way he watched her when she was working in the garden. Whatever it was, she missed it.

She heard absolute silence on the other side of the door. She sighed, it was time. Jia and Len would watch the wedding from outside a window. Zhen had begged Yuan Shao to let them be in the reception, but his mind could not be changed. Servants were servants, and they should barely be allowed to breathe in his presence.


	2. The Lesser Insignificant Half

The Lesser Insignificant Half

It was done. She was now a married woman. She was only the lesser insignificant half of a being. She hated Yuan Xi. She hated his ratty brown hair, his oily skin and his weakling build. Most of all, she hated how he carried himself, he over exaggerated the swaying of his arms, his shoulders were square with a kind of false confidence, his back was slightly hunched and his chin was always slightly tilted down.

She couldn't wait for the feast to end. Her father wasn't sitting at the head table with her, only the Yuans were. In fact, Yuan Shao was seated at the place of honor. Yuan Xi was seated at his father's right and she at Xi's right. Lady Liu, Yuan Shang and Yuan Tan were seated at Yuan Shao's left with their wives next to them whom she didn't get along with real well.

She spotted her father sitting at a table with her brothers and sisters. She was the first of her siblings to be married, so only the seven of them were at that table. Her brother Yu was the oldest and strongest built. Yu and Yan looked so much alike people often mistaken them for twins. Yao was a little weaker looking, but his stout heart made up for it. All her sisters were lovely, but Yuan liked her best apparently. Tuo was a little plump, but she had a perfect complexion. She and Tuo had been the artists of the family. Dao was thin and healthy looking. She was gifted in song and dance. Rong was the freest spirited and most outspoken one of all the sisters. Somehow, all of them got along like best friends, except for her and Dao. Dao had always been very stubborn and loud voiced. Dao had always tried to outdo her in appearance and talent, but now it all seemed silly. Her beauty was her curse now.

There was a time that she wished Yuan Shao had liked Dao better, but she was past those thoughts now and longed that none of this ever happened. Besides, Dao and Wang Bo would make a better couple. Dao always got along with Bo better than she could.

Then, there he was. Wang Bo walked in the door and took the empty seat between her father and Dao. She watched with teary eyes as Bo greeted her father and then sat down and kissed Dao on the cheek. Dao leaned into the kiss and looked straight at her with half closed eyes. Zhen looked away. She couldn't watch.

Yuan Shao stood up.

"I would like to thank you all for attending the joining of my son to the lovely Lady Zhen Ji the daughter of governor Zhen Yi of the Zhongshan region."

He turned to face Yuan Xi.

"May you be blessed with many strong sons."

If everyone wasn't staring at her, she wouldn't have drunk to that. The red wine was almost as bitter in her mouth as the thought of having Xi's child.

She never liked wine, her brothers did, but she couldn't ever remember her father ever drinking. She found he did tonight for she couldn't help but look over at the other Zhen's table. Dao had taken a big gulp from her glass.

The food was brought in. She was given a plate of rice and chicken. How could she maintain her figure that Yuan Shao wanted her to have but stuff her face with platefuls of food?

The room burst into conversation. The people all talked happily and laughed at less than halfway funny jokes, but she was screaming with a voice no one but she could hear. She wanted to get up and run, but where did she have to go? There was no escape from this, there was no escape for her.

"Excuse me."

She stood up and left out the nearest door. The door led her into a long hallway which she ran down fast as her dress would let her. She turned the corner and crashed into someone. She didn't know who, only that they were on top of her.

"Get off me!" She ordered.

The person scrambled off of her. She stood up. Then the other person did too, she found he was much taller than she was.

"Who are you?"

When the man stepped into the light, she saw that he too was built thin from inactivity. He had short dark hair and a very broad breadless chin.

"My name is Lang Shui."

"And what is your position?"

"I'm Lord Yuan Xi's friend."

"If you were, I think that my husband would have told me about you by now."

Although she hated Xi, she could enjoy the power and authority that being a Yuan gave her.

"Lady Zhen, or should I say Lady…"

"What were you doing?"

"My lord asked me to make sure that his chambers are ready for tonight."

"But if you're his friend, why do you call him 'lord'?"

"Professional courtesy."

"And what are you a professional of Master Shui?"

"Strategies, now, excuse me."

He bowed to her and left. Then she heard someone else running up behind her. She turned and saw it was Len and Jia. Len slid to a stop in front of her and took her hands.

"What are you doing?" Len demanded. "We just got word that Lord Cao Cao had arrived."

"Who?" She asked.

"Lord Cao Cao, he was Yuan Shao's childhood friend, and the second most powerful warlord in the land." Jia explained.

"You have to get back in that hall now!" Len enforced.

"Why?"

"Cao Cao came for your wedding."

The two of them led her back to the door she had just run from. Len swung the door open. Jia let her go and pushed her through the door. The door shut behind her. She stood in the door frame and looked at all the people who didn't even notice her.

Suddenly, the main door burst open. Zhen made her way back to Xi's side and took her seat. A group of men came through the door. Everyone in the hall silenced. She counted a dozen men walking toward the head table. Yuan Shao stood up.

"Ah, Cao Cao, I'm so glad you could come."

So this is Cao Cao. The two of them must be close if they addressed each other on a first name basis. Cao Cao was a tall muscular man with tan skin. He carried himself tall and regally. He must be twenty years her senior.

"I apologize for my tardiness Yuan Shao, but you must understand I moved slower than I intended because I had to bring a unit of soldiers."

His voice was deep and even, almost romantic.

"Yes, I understand perfectly Cao Cao."

Cao Cao only smiled in response. He was seated across from Yuan Shao. Other men, who must have been his sons, were seated next to him. Then a man sat across from her. He was tall. His body was muscular under his white clothing. He had soft looking black hair. His skin was like his father's, only less tanned by the sun. He looked up at her with his piercing blue eyes, they took the breath from her lungs.

The man picked up his cup of wine and took a long drink from it to hide that he was making eyes of her. She looked away, but enjoyed the attention. No, she shouldn't think like that. She was a married woman now, and he probably had a wife, a few concubines and a dozen children. What would he want with her? He was the son of a powerful warlord, and she was the reluctant wife of an infamous warlord's son. Luckily, no one noticed the man who was studying every detail of her. Did he notice she was married yet?

She had to distract herself. She looked over at Cao Cao.

"These are my generals; Xiahou Dun, Xu Haung and Zhang Liao, and my sons Cao Zhang, Cao Zhi and Cao Pi."

Cao Pi was the man sitting across from her. Cao Zhi was sitting on his left side. Cao Zhang was sitting next to Cao Cao. Xiahou Dun, Xu Haung and Zhang Liao all sat on the opposite side of Cao Cao from her Zhang Liao? Wasn't he the one that served under the fearsome Lu Bu, the lover of Diao Chan? If he was, she wasn't going to bring it up.

"Lady Zhen right?"

Her heart almost stopped when Cao Pi said her name. His voice was so soothing but thrilling at the same time.

"From Zhongshan." Cao Pi finished.

She nodded.

"Yes my father, Zhen Yi, is the governor there."

"Then you were one of those that helped with the famine relief." He realized.

"Yes."

That was how Yuan Shao learned for her.

"The people must love you for that."

"They did."

"Yet you speak in past tense." Cao Cao stated.

"Well, I won't be able to help my people now will I?"

They all stared at her. Yuan Shao almost spat out his most recent gulp of wine.

"After all, I have bigger things to worry about now. The emperor is still in danger, and his kingdom is crumbling from under his feet." She finished.

This seemed to calm everyone down. Truth be told, if the emperor was too weak to rule the land, someone else should take over.

"Not if Liu Bei can help it." Xiahou Dun pointed out.

"Who is Liu Bei?" She asked.

"Liu Bei was a descendant of Liu Zhen, the son of Liu Sheng, a son of Emperor Jing. He's fighting to restore the broken Han Empire." Cao Pi explained.

"Not completely broken." Yuan Shang cut in.

Yuan Shang and Tan were Xi's older brothers. The two of them never did get along very well and Xi was always caught in the middle of it.

"If this Liu Bei shares the emperor's name, couldn't he claim the land?" She asked.

"Yes, but gentleness will cannot rule the land. Liu Bei is weak. It will take strength to suppress the chaos." Cao Cao explained.

"And that is why Liu Bei has warriors like Guan Yu and Zhang Fei at his side. After all, someone has to protect him." Cao Pi told her with a devilish smile on his face.

What was he suggesting?

"And where is Liu Bei now?" She asked.

"He's borrowed some of my horsemen to wage war against Yuan Shu." Cao Cao told her.

"Yuan Shu is in position of the imperial seal. I hope he doesn't intend to do something dishonorable with it." Xiahou Dun stated.

"He is not of my kin." Yuan Shao disowned.

There was a long pause at the table. Yuan Shu was Yuan Shao's younger brother. It amazed her how one war could tear families apart.

She could still feel Cao Pi's eyes on her. After a few minutes Yuan Shao spoke out.

"Yuan Xi, I'm making you the governor of You Province."

She was going to have to go to You? Cao Pi had the same expression of shock that she did. They exchanged nervous glances. Where did Cao Cao have his capital? Would going to You mean going further from Cao Pi? It must if he too was shocked.

"Brother," Yuan Shang started, "I'm giving you command of fifty of my men."

Oh, the wedding gifts. She hadn't noticed that a line had formed in the hall.

"And my gift to you is stallion I had brought from Ji Province." Yuan Tan announced.

Ji Province! That's where Zhongshan was.

"Thank you, brother."

A family, whom she didn't know, came forward and presented her with a dark wood jewelry box. The next family gave Xi a dagger with a jeweled hilt. The gifts continued to come. Eventually he father came to the table. He gave Xi his gold stitched bridle. He gave her her mother's jade bead necklace, but he didn't address her or even say good-bye. Maybe it would have hurt too much, but not matter how much it would have hurt him, it hurt her even more. She couldn't focus after that.

Everything turned into a blur. She left the dining hall as soon as she could, she could feel Cao Pi watching her. She went out the same door as before, and when there was no one to see her, she dropped to her knees and cried. Then she heard the sound of footsteps, but before she could gain control of herself, they were standing in front of her.

"Lady Zhen?"

She looked up. It was Yuan Shao.

"What do you want!" She demanded.

Then he was upon her. He had his hand on her throat and pressed her against the wall.

"I know that you aren't fond of the Yuan family, but first of all, you will address me as 'lord'. Second, you will love my son the way you loved Wang Bo. Yes, I know about him. Finally, if I ever see you making eyes at another man again, I will kill him."

He didn't know about Cao Pi. Yuan Shao wouldn't kill his childhood friend's son. Yuan Shao let her go. She fell to the ground and rasped for breath. He left there and went back to the hall. When she could stand, she got up and ran, but she came to some servants.

"Looking for Xi's chambers?"

If she said 'no', they would know something was wrong, but she couldn't get herself to say 'yes'. So she merely nodded her head. They led her down the hall a ways and opened a door for her. She stepped inside, but then they closed the door behind her. Now that she was alone, she began pacing the floor of Xi's chambers. Her feet almost moved as fast as her heart was. It took a while, but Xi finally came.

"What are you doing here?" He demanded.

She looked at him blankly. He of all people!

"GET OUT!" He screamed.

He shoved her out the door. Lang Shui went past her and entered the chambers. Yuan Xi never called for her that night.

The Unwanted Wife

She couldn't believe it. Yuan Shao had sought her out and took her from her home to be married to his son who was lover to another man! Now she understood why Yuan Shao picked her, he must have hoped that she would undo his love for other men. He was wrong. If Xi didn't want her, that wasn't her problem. Actually, it was better that way. She would never have to consummate a love that she didn't have for him, and he clearly didn't have for her.

She liked that she wouldn't have to betray her memory of Wang Bo. He had always been kind to her, but now she knew it was so that he could get close to Zhen Dao. Looking back, Bo always did like to spend time with Dao, but he spent equal, if not more time with her. She would have to forget him or she'd go mad. How could she forget the way he used to watch her paint or when he would listen to her play her flute? She may not be much of a dancer, but no one could rival her when it came to the flute.

x

She woke up early the next morning and dressed plainly as she could manage. Why dress up for a husband that didn't love her? Or women in general for that matter.

If one thing was for sure, she wasn't going to cover for Xi when she went to breakfast. Everyone was surprised to see her at the table that early. She wasn't surprised that Xi and Shui weren't here yet, but she was shocked to see that Cao Pi and Xu Haung were still here. Apparently, they were planning to spend some time in Yecheng.

The table was filled with food and conversation, but she didn't feel like either one of them. So she quietly listened, more like pretended to, and ate a few pieces of a kind of food that she didn't recognize.

She made sure to have left the table before Xi or Shui woke. Dining was almost like a ritual here. Everything was so official. She didn't care, she excused herself and left. She went back to her room and pulled her flute off the table where she last left it. She hadn't played for weeks, not since she got here anyway. Her fingers lined themselves along the flute's shaft, but when she blew the first note, it made a horrible screeching sound. Frustrated, she put the flute down and left her chambers. Some flute player she was. The music used to flow from her fingers, now it was dead.

She looked across the castle courtyard and saw Cao Pi and Xu Haung walking together. She studied his movements closely and noticed that he had a small book tucked under his belt. It wasn't long before Xu Haung left. Cao Pi took a seat on the nearest bench, took out his book and began to write.

Zhen turned and started down the halls to explore the parts of the castle she hadn't seen. Eventually she found Lady Liu, but she dodged coming close to her by going through a door. That would have been the most awkward encounter in all history.

She found she was in a dimly lit room. The place was full of maps. There was a long table with dozens of chairs in the center of the room. This must be Yuan Shao's strategizing room. Curiosity overcame her and she couldn't help but take a look at one of the scrolls. It was an order from Yuan Shao to his generals Yan Yiang and Wen Chou. It read;

'_We will meet Cao Cao at Guan Du. Have your men ready. I will send Zhang He ahead to make the preparations.'_

She dropped the scroll. Yuan Shao was going to wage war on Cao Cao when he lent some of his men to Liu Bei.

"That two faced bastard." She whispered.

Yuan Shao led Cao Cao close to him as his friend to attend her wedding. Then he was going to turn around and attack him.

She turned and ran out to find Cao Pi. He wasn't on the bench anymore. Instead, she found him in the southern courtyard watching some young soldiers practice their archery and betting on who would get a bulls-eye and who wouldn't. How could she get him alone when Yuan Shao, Xi, Shang, Tan, Lang Shui and Xu Huang were all there?

"Lady Zhen." Xu Huang greeted.

She gave him a smile. Cao Pi groaned as he handed a handful of coins to Yuan Xi. That's when he noticed her and for a sort moment, their eyes met.

"Why don't you give it a try?" She asked him, referring to the bow.

"Archery is for the archers."

"You mean the common man." She assumed.

"No, I mean that leaders should focus on swordsmanship just as any soldier needs to and strategizing to keep their men safe."

"Really? Can I try?"

The men laughed at her, especially Yuan Shao, but Cao Pi smiled. He went over to the archer and got the bow and an arrow from him. She went over to him. He handed the bow and arrow to her. Then she moved away from the target and behind where the men were standing for a few dozen paces. A few of them moved, but Xi didn't.

"The safest place to stand is in front of a woman because that's where the arrow won't go." He stated.

The whole group, except for Cao Pi, laughed. She ignored her husband and knocked the arrow. Then she raised her arm, drew the arrow to her mouth and aimed. The men went silent.

"Won't anyone bet on me?"

She looked at Cao Pi as she said it. He nodded.

"Sure, I'll bet a few coins."

"I'll take that bet." Xi announced.

Both men reached in their pockets. Before Cao Pi could collect his money, she released the arrow. It whipped through the air and pierced the target dead center. Everyone but Xi laughed, who instead handed Cao Pi three pieces.

"Let's try your hand at a sword." Cao Pi tempted.

"Sorry Lord Cao Pi, I'm not much good with a sword."

"Then where did you learn to shot like that?"

"I have an older brother and two younger brothers." She explained. "All of them thought that I should be able to bring some dinner home when they went to war."

"What about your father?"

She looked away.

"He's in poor health."

The others around them had a few other young soldiers use dull blades and placed their bets on the duels. She was less than interested, she had proven her point and now she only wanted to tell Cao Pi about her father-in-law, who was about to attack his father with a massive army.

She waited for the men to be done with their bets for hours, but they could never seem to get enough of it. Was gambling really that entertaining? She tried to wait it out another hour, but her patience was growing thin considering she had been there for three hours already. She decided to leave and hoped that they were almost done. Her best hope would be to try and catch Cao Pi in the hall rather than be seen walking away with him.

The men gambled straight up to midday. She resorted to writing everything down on a piece of paper and sneak it into his hand, but during lunch, she had to sit on the opposite side of the table from him because of where Xi had sat down. She hid the note under the belt at her waist.

The conversation turned to politics. This time, she knew better than to ask questions. Lunch ended and hour after it began. It amazed her how talented these people were at wasting time. Of course, she had grown up in a place that time was precious. Here, it seemed to be a nuisance more than anything. These people seemed to be waiting to die by the way they wasted so much time. Personally, she would rather do something with her time, but for now, she would have to focus on telling Cao Pi about Yuan Shao.


	3. Confessions of Love

Confessions of Love

She started down the hall. Xi and Chang were in his quarters, again, so no one would know if she went for a midnight walk. She had watched Cao Pi closely all day and by now she knew where he was staying. She gave a gentle tap on the door and slid the note under it, but her hand caught on a sharp piece of loose wood.

"Ah!"

She pulled the sliver out and rushed away. She made it to her chambers and slowly opened the door so that no one would hear her. She closed the door behind her, but when she turned around, Cao Pi was standing right in front of her. He was holding her note in his hand. How could he have beaten her here? He must know this castle better than she did.

She backed away from him, but Cao Pi kept coming toward her until her had her pressed against the wall.

"What's the meaning of this?" He softly asked.

She had to rasp for breath. Her chest heaved. Being this close to him was indescribable.

"Yuan Shao… will send Lang Liang, Wen Chou and Zhang He to Guan Du." She told him. "They're going to ambush your father."

"Stop."

She looked up at him.

"You already know?"

"Why do you think that I stayed here?"

She shook her head to tell him that she didn't know.

"My father and Yuan Shao have been itching for a fight for months. I agreed to stay so that Xu Haung and I could kill the family."

"What?"

She was a part of the Yuan family!

"The Yuans have been conspiring to seize the land for years. We can't let them."

There was a long pause.

"Will you kill me?" She eventually asked.

"Why would you think that?"

"I am a Yuan."

"Not anymore. The Yuans have already left for Guan Du."

"You would spare me, but you'll kill all the others. Why the double standard Lord Cao Pi?"

"Why would you risk your life to warn me about Yuan Shao?"

She didn't think that it was possible, but he came closer, so close that they weren't even an inch away from kissing.

"Because of how you are looking at me now." She whispered.

Cao Pi smiled at her answer.

"Xu Haung has left to open the front gate to let our soldiers in. It is a shame that such a beautiful flower be allowed to stay here with these Yuans. Will you come with me to Xu Chang, I will allow you to blossom."

She became weak by the thought of being wanted.

"Only on one condition."

"What?"

"I can bring my horse and hand maidens my father sent with me."

Cao Pi nodded.

Cloud was her tall gray saddle horse they foaled from her father's prize stallion. Originally, Cloud was going to be her brother's horse, but the mare proved to be too much for him to handle. So naturally, she decided to ride the mare. She could never forget the look on her father's face or the feeling of victory she had when she rode the mare for the first time after no one else could. She was 'allowed' to bring Cloud with her, but had she not, she would have brought the mare here somehow without Yuan Shao knowing.

"Then I will go with you."

Then he kissed her. The first time she had ever been kissed and it was different than anything she could have ever imagined. He slowly pulled away from her, but she didn't want him to.

"Pack your things."

She pulled out a bag from her closet. All she really had to bring was her mother's necklace and her flute, but she threw in some riding boots and a cloak to keep warm against the night's cold.

"Ready?"

"Yes."

"We'll get the handmaidens, then I'll take you to the camp."

He took her hand, she led him to Len and Jia's room. The castle was silent, no one seemed to be out.

"Wait here."

She went in and woke the women up.

"Hurry, we have to go. Pack your things, quickly." She rushed.

"What's going on?" Jia asked as she packed her things.

"We're leaving with Cao Pi."

"Why?"

"Yuan Shao's going to attack Cao Cao. There's going to be an open battle. Cao Pi's going to save us."

The three women left the room. Cao Pi took her hand and led them all out from the castle and to the front gate just as it burst open. Cao Pi let go of her and went over to Xu Haung. They exchanged a few words before parting. Cao Pi gestured them to follow him and led them out the gate and to a wagon. He helped them all in.

"I have to go, but I'll be back." He reassured. "The driver is going to take you to our camp. I'll bring your horse when I return."

He turned and left. The driver started the horses. Before Cao Pi faded from her sight, she saw him draw his sword.

x

Cao Cao's camp was only a few miles away from the city. The driver showed them to the main tent, which was completely empty of people. The tent was raised on a wood floor and the fabric used was thick and stiff enough to keep out the wind. They went up the steps and entered the tent. There was a large bed in the center of the tent, a basin full of water sat on a small but tall table, there was a chair next to it and there were a few trunks in the corner. She placed her bag next to one of the trunks.

Shao Len and Jing Jia both took a seat on the bed. She went and sat in front of them and took their hands in hers.

"Zhen, what's going on?" Jia sounded scared, and for good reason.

"Yuan Shao and his sons left to attack Cao Cao at Guan Du. Cao Pi decided to spare us."

"Why?" Len asked.

"…Because I warned him about Yuan Shao."

"You betrayed the Yuans!"

"But I gained the favor of the Caos." She defended.

"You would rather be a whore than the wife of a warlord's son." Len shamed.

"I would be if it meant he loved me."

"Cao Pi must have dozens of concubines. Such a man is incapable of truly loving you. I've heard that Cao Pi has a concubine, Guo Nuwang, and that she is an evil conniving woman."

"And how would you learn of such things?"

"Rumors move fast."

"I will not argue this with you. We are better off with the Caos who spared us while the Yuans would have left us to be killed."

Zhen stood up, but the tent's front flap, which served for some excuse for a door, opened. Xu Haung stepped in.

"I'm supposed to take the handmaids to their tent."

Len and Jia looked at her. Zhen looked at the general, his face was genuine. So she nodded at Len and Jia for them to go with him. The handmaidens gathered their things and followed the general out. Zhen was left in the tent alone. She took a seat on the bed and waited for Cao Pi to return. He said he would be back soon. How long could securing a castle take?

It must have been an hour after Xu Haung came that the flag opened again, this time Cao Pi came in. He smiled when he saw her and went over to the basin of water. The water turned red.

"Xu Haung came for your maids?" He asked.

"Yes."

He turned around and saw her worried face.

"Don't worry, he's taken to them a tent I had made ready for them. Xu Haung is Wei's most trustworthy general, second only to Xiahou Dun, who's my father's cousin."

This would make him the most trustworthy general that's not family to the Caos. She decided to not worry about Len and Jia.

"You always trust family?" She asked.

After her father didn't even fight to keep her, family seemed to be less than trustworthy to her.

"When I've known them long enough."

He dried his hands with a white towel that was laid next to the basin. He draped the towel over the table when he was done. He sat down next to her and took her hand.

"Why did you agree to come?" He asked.

"Because I would rather be one of your concubines than Yuan Xi's wife."

He put his hand on her cheek. She held his arm.

"I don't want you for a concubine… I want you as my wife."

She looked into his eyes and found he was serious.

"What about Lady Guo?"

He looked confused.

"What about her?"

"Don't you love her?"

Cao Pi drew her in close and cradled her in his arms. She rested her head in his chest as he stroked her hair.

"Guo was given to me by my older brother and rival, Cao Ang. She's the last woman I would want with me in Xu Chang."

"What about your other concubines?"

"There are no others."

"Do you think that women should just be given away?"

"I know it sounds bad, but I can't refuse gifts from my brothers."

"Have you had any children with her?"

"No."

They parted. He grabbed her shoulders to hold her still and looked straight into her eyes.

"Zhen, I know that this all is so different for you, but love is love no matter where you come from. I can't imagine going back to Xu Chang without you."

She took his hand and held it to her face.

"All this is so strange to me. My father only had two wives because my mother died."

"How?"

"She died in childbirth when I was two years of age. My father told me she never was very healthy. Both I and my brother were born too early, and she had a hard time holding on to a child. My brother and I were the lucky ones."

"I'm my father's second son, his first with Lady Bian. Cao Ang was from Lady Liu."

"You have many half brothers?"

"Many."

He leaned in and kissed her.

x

Zhen woke up lying on her stomach. She was still wearing her lightweight blue night gown. She sat up and pushed a few stray hairs out of her face. Cao Pi was sitting on one of his trunks watching her with his elbows on his knees and his hands in a fist which held his chin up.

"What's wrong?" She asked him.

He smiled and shook his head.

"Yuan Shao let me stay at his castle because he thought he could use me and Xu Haung for hostages as leverage against my father. What a fool he is!"

He stood up and moved over to her. He offered her his hand. She took it. He led her from the tent. In the distance she saw a black river of smoke rising from the tree line.

"Is that Yecheng?"

"Yes."

"You killed all the Yuans and their servants?"

"All but you and your handmaidens. Such is war." He told her.

"Such is how enemies are made." She added.

She was glad that they were dead, but a part inside her regretted it.

"What do you mean?"

"They would have made powerful allies."

"Zhen, you must understand, everyone there was our enemies."

"I know, but do you have to kill all your enemies?"

"It takes strength to lead."

"There's a difference between strength and brutality." She told him. "Does your father want to gain control of the land?"

"Yes, the emperor is too weak to lead such a vast kingdom."

"You know how to win the battles, let me teach you how to win the people."

He nodded in agreement. He knew that she knew more about how to win the hearts and minds of the people than he did. She never went to Yecheng to see what was left of it, or what was left of the Yuans and their servants.


	4. The Cao Clan

The Cao Clan

Cao Pi took her, Jia and Len to Cao Cao's castle at Guan Du. It was a massive fortress built of grey stone and surrounded by a tall impenetrable wall.

She was riding Cloud next to Cao Pi, who also had a white horse named Storm. His stallion was much taller and more muscular compared to Cloud. Storm was a battle horse and Cloud was a saddle horse. So their differences in build only made sense.

They were greeted by the joyous looking faces of the nearly victorious soldiers of the Wei army. 'Morale is high' as Cao Pi put it.

"We're victorious already?" She asked.

"It appears so, but I haven't gotten word from father since he left."

They stepped down off their horses in front of the castle's front entrance. She could feel a thousand sets of eyes on her and wished she was back riding in the wagon where Jia and Len were.

Cao Pi formally offered her his arm. She put her hand through his elbow and rested her palm on his forearm. She hadn't been treated so proper in years, not even during her own wedding, which was pathetic since the Yuans are even wealthier than the Caos.

Cao Cao, Xiahou Dun, Zhang Liao and a few other generals whom she didn't recognize, came out to meet them. Cao Pi parted from her to meet his father in a single armed hug.

"My son, we are victorious, all that's left is to is take Yuan Shao's main camp. We will storm it in the morning and the Yuans will be no more."

"Excellent father, even the mighty Yuans cannot match the strength of Wei."

Cao Cao's eyes fell on her. Cao Pi noticed and held out his hand for her. She approached him, he put his hand on her back.

"This is Lady Zhen." Cao Pi introduced.

Cao Cao looked back and forth between her and Cao Pi. A few of the generals looked at each other in uncertainty, but then Cao Cao smiled.

"It's good to have you among us Lady Zhen."

x

She and Cao Pi were in his chambers. She was sitting on his bed as he took his armor and weapons off in front of her. She tried not to watch too much.

"Lord Cao Cao seems to approve of me." She stated.

"He has, but it helps that you're the wife of Yuan Xi."

"How would it?"

"It will prove the Cao family's domination over the Yuans."

"Oh." She was disappointed. "Is everything in your personal life related to politics?"

"For the most part, yes."

He pulled a bracer off his wrist and threw it in the trunk. She noticed a small pocket book on the table next to her. She went over and picked it up.

"May I?"

Cao Pi looked up at her and saw she had his book in her hands.

"Of course."

She opened the book and sat back down on the bed. It was a book of poems. The first few were about Lady Bian. She skimmed over the ones about his brothers since she didn't know anything about them anyway. Then she came to a poem about a battle.

She didn't even notice that Cao Pi had taken a seat next to her and was leaning over her shoulder.

"I wrote that one a few days ago."

"I didn't know that you were a poet."

He smiled.

"A gift that Zhi and I inherited from our father."

She continued to read. When she got to the last page with writing on it, she found that the poem was about her.

'_Her hair is like a veil of black silk flowing after her and covering her face of marble that's somehow hiding the emotions I know she is feeling_

_With every gaze from her gold like eyes comes a breath stealing wind that captivates my soul.'_

"When did you write this one?" She asked.

"Yesterday morning before we started wagering on the archers." He explained. "I didn't have enough time to finish it yet."

"You have a gift Cao."

Cao Pi laid down on the bed and watched her read from his poem book. He choose every so carefully to keep the flow of the poems flawless. She was amazed by his attention to even the slightest of all details. Even his writing was perfect. Every character was carefully written to be perfectly clear. Her writing was never as beautiful.

After a few minutes, he took the book from her hands.

"These are only a few incomplete thoughts, just things that came to mind at random times. I may use them later on."

She laid down next to him. He held the book up above his face and flipped through the pages to refresh his memory of what he had written. She watched and tried to read as much as she could from every poem before he would turn the page.

After a while, he reached over and put the book on one of the tables and put his arm around her. She cuddled into him and rested her head on his chest. She took in his scent and closed her eyes. His body was well built and covered with tone muscles. His skin was soft from not being left to dry in the sun. She gently ran the tips of her fingers along his ribs. His muscles tensed and he took her hand in his to stop her, but he had a grin of his face. When he gave her hand back, she placed it on his chest.

x

She didn't quite know how he did it, but when she woke up, Cao Pi was standing by his trunk putting his armor on. How did he not wake her up when he got out of bed? She sat up and pulled the blankets off.

"Where are you going?"

He tightened his breastplate and wrapped his belt around his waist.

"We still have to secure Yuan Shao's main camp."

"That's where Yuan Xi is?"

"Yes."

"I wish there was something that I could say to make you stay, but I'm afraid I couldn't find any words that could match yours."

He smiled and turned around to face her.

"I know what's going through your head right now. It will be hard for you to see me off to battle, but don't worry. I'll be with father in the back the whole time, and this won't be an open battle, we're only securing a castle we've already surrounded."

She went over to him and took his hands in hers.

"Just promise me a few things."

"What?"

"That Yuan Shao will be dead before the sun sets and I want to see Yuan Xi kneeling at your feet, then I want you to take me back to Xu Chang."

"Yuan Shao and his sons will die, and I will bring you to Xu Chang to become my wife." He promised.

He dropped her hands and started toward the door. When she caught up with him, he turned to face her.

"My father won't want you among his war council, at least not until you are a Cao. Wait for me here. I'll have your handmaidens sent to you."

He went out the door and closed it behind him. She listened to his footsteps go down the hall until they couldn't be heard. Then she went over to the balcony and looked out, just in case they moved out before having their meeting. She found that the sun hadn't risen yet. This time of year it should be up early. It must be earlier in the morning than she thought it was.

She went over to the table next to the bed and picked up his poem book. Then she curled up on the silk bed and started to read. There must have been a hundred different poems in the little leather bound book varying from people to horses, to battles and to love.

When the sun rose above the mountains, she heard some commotion outside. She placed the book on the bed and went to the balcony. She leaned over the railing and saw a hundred men lined up behind the front gate. There were a dozen men on horses at the front. She recognized Cao Pi's long white sleeves. Then the gate opened. Cao Pi turned in his saddle and waved. She stood on her toes and waved back.

The hoof Yuan Shao's camp could be seen just in front of the rising sun and over the tree line. She could safely guess it was his camp since his yellow banners hung from the walls.

Then Cao Pi and the others disappeared into the trees, but she waited, for what, she did not know. She hoped he would have turned his horse around come riding back to her, but she knew he wouldn't. His duty was far too important. She then hoped that she could at least see him, but the trees and the distance made that impossible.

This is when she realized that she had completely forgotten about Wang Bo for the last day and a half. She couldn't have really loved him if she had forgotten about him already. Now that she had Cao Pi, she didn't miss him anymore. In fact, she was glad that Yuan Shao came to take her. Sure it was terrifying at the time, but if he hadn't, she would have never met Cao Pi.

She smiled and sat down on the bed.

There was a gentle tap on the door. She stood up and started toward the door. She hesitated before opening the door. What if they expected Cao Pi and found her instead?

"Zhen, are you there?"

She opened the door. Len and Jia where standing in front of her.

"Zhen!"

Jia jumped toward her and embraced her in a hug with such energetic force that it almost knocked her over.

"We were so worried about you."

Jia stepped away from her. Len came in the room and shut the door.

"Why would you be worried about me?" She asked.

"Well, we haven't seen you for a full day and night." Jia explained.

"Oh, ah… Well, there is no need to worry about me when I'm with Cao Pi."

Jia had a look of awe on her face. Len on the other hand had her hands on her hips and a skeptical expression.

"Right, like you would expect us to believe that a man like him would want you."

Zhen felt her face turn red.

"What would it take for you to trust Cao Pi?"

Then there was another tap on the door. Zhen felt a little more confident with her handmaidens here and opened the door. There was a tall woman standing in the doorway. She had dark waist long hair held up with a gold headdress with red and blue jewels. She had very fair and soft looking skin that was complemented by her pale pink cheeks. Her dark eyes were filled with a gentle kindness.

"I'm Lady Bian. Cao Pi is my son."

Zhen guessed that the woman was in her forties, she had to be anyway, but nothing in her appearance betrayed her age.

"I'm Zhen Ji."

Lady Bian smiled.

"Would you like to join me for breakfast Lady Zhen?"

x

Her future mother in-law seemed to be a good person. She was always genuine and polite in her words and actions, which seemed to be hard to find in a word of politics. Although Lady Bian only invited her for breakfast, they ended up spending most of the afternoon together. Lady Bian was one of the more interesting people she had ever met.

"My eldest son has been very quiet lately. He can't seem to put his poem book down. He's always writing something. I think it's because of you." Lady Bian told her.

"Me?"

"Yes, I have seen many of my husband's sons fall for a consort, but I have never seen any of them act like my Cao Pi is now. He's in love."

She was taken back. This was the first time all afternoon that Lady Bian became serious.

"But what about Lady Guo?"

Lady Bian laughed.

"When it comes to Lady Guo, you won't have to worry about competing with her for Cao Pi's love. She was given to Cao Pi two years ago and he never called on her once. In fact, he had her moved to Hei Bei a few months ago. I was glad to see her go. She's a serpent of a woman."

"What about the other consorts?"

"There are no others. Cao Cao on the other hand, he has six wives, including myself, and he has a whole group of consorts."

There was a pause before she asked;

"Do you love him?"

"Excuse me?"

"Sorry, I shouldn't ask…"

"No, it's alright. I do love my husband, but it's hard to share him with other women. I just have to remember that he's a man of rank. He needs a suitable number of heirs in case something would happen to one of them."

To her, having two dozen sons was more than enough.

She hoped Cao Pi wouldn't expect four sons from her. The fact that her mother died when giving birth always haunted her. She hoped she wouldn't suffer the same fate.

"Zhen?" Lady Bian asked.

She had been so absorbed in thought and worry that she had completely forgotten about Lady Bian.

"Sorry, my mind was running away with me."

She tried to smile.

"It's alright. I should go outside anyway, this air isn't much good."

She followed Lady Bian out of the castle. Their handmaidens followed behind. Every once in a while she would look toward the east where Yuan Shao's camp was.

"Don't worry." Lady Bian assured her. "He'll be fine, and it will get easier for you to see him off."

It wasn't just that. He could die! Or get hurt. If the Yuans won, she would be executed, or she would have to go back to Yuan Xi.

Then they heard a horn blow. She ran over to the front gate to find the entire Wei war party entering the courtyard. None of them looked pleased. Cao Pi climbed off Storm and walked right past without even noticing her.

"Cao wait!"

She put her hands on his arm.

"What's wrong?"

She looked around, there were a significantly smaller number of soldiers, but all the generals returned, including Cao Cao.

"Yuan Shao thwarted our attack with his catapults. We lost over a hundred men."

"What is Cao Cao going to do?"

"We're going back to Xu Chang. Too many men have deserted our camp. I'm sorry."

He led Storm to the stable. She watched him go, knowing that there wasn't anything she could do to stop him. She only wished she could help.

Then she saw Cao Pi stop in his tracks. He turned around to face her. She ran into his arms and hugged him tight.

"I have an idea." He told her. "I'm not sure if it would work, and it would be dangerous."

"What do you need me to do?"


	5. Warlord of the Central Plains

Warlord of the Central Plains

How could Cao Pi expect her to do something like that? She couldn't accomplish such an impossible task. She didn't have any experience in battle. He should have trusted someone else.

She led Cloud from the stable and climbed up into the saddle. She kicked the mares sides and galloped her through the front gate had been left open because troops were constantly going through to bring supplies, but at the moment, there were no troops in sight. She went east toward Yuan Shao's camp.

The camp was more like a fortress swarming with scouts. Cloud had to place her hooves carefully so that she wouldn't step on a corpse. There were severed and mangled bodies everywhere. Some of the bodies were of young boys, at least three years younger than she was, too young to be in a battle.

Cloud stopped in front of the main gate. Her hooves and legs were stained with blood.

The gate's doors slowly opened. A dozen guards stood before her. Yuan Shao stepped forward. He took a long look at her with his critical eyes.

"Tell me why I shouldn't kill you now? You've left with my enemy's son and betrayed my entire clan."

She slid down off of Cloud's back. Some mud and crimson splashed up on her and ran down the sides of her legs. She tried not to focus on it and took a few steps toward Yuan Shao. Cloud was led away, presumably to the stable.

"I have information for you." She told him.

Yuan Shao tilted his chin up to try and hide his interest, but it didn't work well.

"Cao Cao is planning to leave tomorrow. With so many soldiers deserting him, he feels that this is a lost cause."

"And?"

"You could attack him before he leaves tomorrow, not only will you take your land back, but you will have defeated the most powerful warlord in the central plains, next to yourself. You could unite the land and restore the Han."

She took a few more steps toward him.

"Can you even imagine how the emperor would reward the man who gave him his kingdom back?" She whispered.

Yuan Shao thought for a moment. The he looked up at her.

"You are a conniving woman."

There was a long pause as she waited for him to speak.

"What are you after?"

"You know that I don't love your son. I want to go home and continue my life as it was before you came. Promise me that you'll let me go if I tell you where to strike Cao Cao."

"Very well, you have my word. Now, where will Cao Cao go, He Fei?"

"No, he leaves for Xu Chang in the morning. If you set and ambush, you can hold him up and send the other half of your force to take Xu Chang. He'll have nowhere to go."

"And I'm sure you know where to set the ambush."

"Yan Jing."

"The base?"

"Cao Cao will have to stop for supplies." She explained.

Yuan Shao nodded his head a few times. He turned to his men.

"Take her."

Before she could do anything, his men grabbed hold of her.

"YOU PROMISED ME!" She screamed as loud as she could.

Yuan Shao only glared at her with a childish grin on his face.

"You're more of a fool than I thought." She muttered to him.

She turned and looked to the west beyond the front gate. Yuan Shao noticed and turned to see what she was looking at. She smiled when their eyes met again.

Then the entire Wei cavalry came charging through the fortress' gate lead by Cao Pi, Xu Haung and the one-eyed Xiahou Dun. Xiahou Dun used his club like weapon to knock down one of the men holding her. She pulled her flute, that she had tied to her belt, and used it to hit the other man holding her across the face.

She turned toward Yuan Shao, but he had disappeared in the chaos. She tried to find him, but could only see Wei's blue uniforms.

"Zhen!"

She saw Cao Pi come running over to her. Behind him, was Yuan Shao fleeing up the stairs to get into the castle. She started after him. She followed him up the stairs and into the courtyard.

"Halt! I won't let you leave."

He stopped and turned to face her.

"Listen here, my clan has never known defeat!"

"Not till now."

She held her flute tight and charged at him. He pulled out a short gagged sword.

She leaped in the air and hurled her sword down at Yuan Shao, but he raised her sword and blocked her attack. She landed on her feet and spun at him with her flute aimed at his head. He ducked under the range of her attack and came at her with his sword. She jumped out of the way, but he hit her to the ground with the back of his hand. He hurled his sword at her. She rolled over to avoid the sword, but he kicked her in the face and positioned his sword for the kill.

"ZHEN!"

Cao Pi came running and blocked Yuan Shao's sword with his own. Zhen rolled over again and jumped to her feet. Cao Pi hit Yuan Shao's sword out of his hands and slugged him in the face. Then he turned face her.

"Are you alright?

"Fine."

"Zhen don't be hasty, I don't want to lose you."

He held her chin as he looked at the cut by her mouth. When he saw it was nothing, he put his arm around her and guided her back towards the gate. The Wei soldiers poured into the courtyard and surrounded Yuan Shao behind them.

He led her over to where Storm was being held by one of the cavalry soldiers. He took the reins. He kept his arm around her as they watched thousands of Wei soldiers come running through the gates and laid siege on the fortress.

"I didn't think that I could do it." She admitted.

"Your scream was more than loud enough for all of us to hear."

She smiled, slightly embarrassed. They continued to watch in marvel as Cao Cao's soldiers swarmed the fortress.

"Zhen, when you're with me, I can't be forced to retreat." He told her.

They exchanged smiles.

x

The fortress fell without much of a fight. All the Yuans were brought to the front courtyard with their hands bound behind their backs. They were forced on their knees by the elite Wei soldiers. Cao Cao, Cao Pi, Zhang Liao and Xiahou Dun stood before them with their weapons in hand. Yuan Xi was kneeling at Cao Pi feet, just as she wanted.

Zhen Ji was standing a little ways off with Xu Huang, who had found Cloud for her. Xu Haung held a mighty axe in his hands that matched his armor. His skin was tan and his face was stern. She didn't notice his height until now since she was standing right next to him.

She held Cloud's reins in one hand and Storm's in the other. Xu Huang was holding the reins of his own and Cao Cao's horse, Shadow Runner. Shadow Runner was a tall war horse who wore a beautifully decorated gold chanfron over his bridle. His saddle was made of soft black leather. His saddle blanket and barding were woven with gold stitching. Xu Haung's horse was a tall chestnut mare with the standard saddle, bridle and barding for a general in the Wei army.

"My path, the honor of the Yuans… Cao Cao, if it wasn't for you, the Yuans would have shined." Yuan Shao told him.

"Farewell Yuan Shao. I shall continue my path of conquest, but I will never forget you."

Zhen closed her eyes as the Yuans' throats were cut.

"Prepare to move out, we return to Xu Chang in triumph!" Cao Pi announced.

The Wei soldiers raised their spears and shouted their support.

Cao Pi walked over towards her. She hand him Storm's reins.

"I thought that this was what you wanted." He whispered.

"It is."

They both climbed into the saddle and gathered the reins in their hands.

"Then why are you remorseful?"

"I'm not remorseful. I'm just… not used to all this." She explained.

Cao Pi nodded.

Cao Cao came over to where they were. He put his foot in the stirrup and climbed up into Shadow Runner's saddle. He led the way out of Yuan Shao's fortress and went south, toward Xu Chang.

x

She wasn't sure why, but she couldn't take her mind off of the Yuans. Even on the way to Xu Chang, they were the only thing that she could think about. She thought that she would be relieved that the Yuans were dead. The strange thing was, is that that's exactly how she felt. Wasn't she supposed to regret what she did? She led Wei's entire army into the camp which eventually led to the Yuans' demise. Wasn't she supposed to get all emotional and cry? Why wouldn't she cry!

Ugh. She soon gave up on trying to understand her own mind. A woman's mind was too complicated, even for a woman to understand. Who could she go to in order to find out what was going on in her head? This must have been close to what Diao Chan felt when she betrayed Dong Zhou. If only she were here.

Cloud shot her nose out which tugged on Zhen hands. She had gotten so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't realize that she was holding Cloud's reins much too tight. She have Cloud some more slack in the reins so she wouldn't be pulling in the bit.

She turned in the saddle and looked behind her. There must have been thousands of soldiers behind her. Among them was Zhang He, whom had defected from the deceased Yuan Shao's army. He proved himself to be the strangest man she has ever seen. He was very tall with fair skin and long black hair held up with a headdress. She shook her head and didn't think anymore of him.

Cao Cao and Xiahou Dun talked a good majority of the time. She listened carefully to try and learn as much as she could about the kingdom of Wei before they arrived at Xu Chang.

"You shouldn't have called be back cousin, I almost had Guan Yu."

"Guan Yu fulfilled his debt to me. We have no more need of him."

"So you'd let him go to help your enemy?"

"Liu Bei is serving me at the moment. He's taken care of Yuan Shu and gained possession of the imperial seal. Knowing him, he'll take it back to the emperor. Which is what I would have done had I been the one to get the seal."

"You wouldn't claim the throne for yourself?"

"No."

Xiahou Dun fell silent. Cao Cao was wise as he was bold. She could see why so many people followed him into battle.

x

They made it to Xu Chang just as the sun began to fall behind the western mountains. Xu Chang was magnificent compared to Yecheng. Xu Chang was surrounded by a tall wall with scout towers on all the corners. The streets were abundant with happy looking people that bowed before Cao Cao. There were soldiers patrolling along the streets holding long spears. The market was filled with people trying to sell their merchandise which included everything from wine, to clothing and horses. The castle was surrounded by another wall lined with dozens of archers.

The gates to the castle were opened for them. The courtyard was huge. On either side of the gate was a staircase that led up to the scout towers. The courtyard itself was elaborately decorated with gold statues, willow trees and a pond. There was a pathway going around either side of the castle. She knew that one of the pathways was to the stable, the other might lead to the armory.

Zhen climbed down out of the saddle. A soldier came and took Cloud's reins. Cao Pi left with his father and the generals. The war council must be assembling.

Lady Bian approached her.

"Come, I'll help you settle in."


	6. The City of Xu Chang

The City of Xu Chang

Cao Pi arranged for their wedding to take place a week after she had arrived at Xu Chang. As before, Len and Jia were helping her to get ready. This time, she had a white dress with gold trimming. Her hair was held up in a gold headdress and she wasn't overwhelmed with jewelry.

Her fingers were trembling she was so nervous, but she held her head high and shoulders square.

"So you really think that you made the right decision?" Shao Len asked her.

"Of course I do."

Len sighed.

"Then I think that I can try and trust Lord Cao Pi."

Zhen smiled.

"Thank you Len."

She turned and looked in the mirror. It was hard to believe that just under a month ago, she looked in the mirror and saw a very different bride. That bride had been weary eyed and still. She was now bright and joyous, a much better version of herself from when she lived in Zhongshan.

Thinking of Zhongshan made her think of her father and siblings. Was her father still healthy? If he wasn't, would her brothers be able to take care of the others. Had Wang Bo and Zhen Dao been married? She hadn't received word from her father, in fact, she hadn't seen any of her family since her marriage to Yuan Xi.

"I think that I'll write to my father tomorrow." She stated.

Jia smiled. Len nodded her head. Zhen picked up her mother's necklace and tied it around her neck.

"What made you decide that?" Len asked.

"I was just thinking of my last wedding, which made me think of Zhongshan and my family. I haven't heard from any of them for almost a month. I was just wondering if Bo and Dao were married."

Her tone was angry. Although she didn't have any feelings for Bo anymore, she still hated Dao for being so heartless toward her at the feast.

"One has to wonder." Len responded.

"I wouldn't think so." Jia told them. "I think that Bo is wise enough to marry Tuo or Rong. He could get along with either one of them. Dao on the other hand, she would be harder to live with."

"Did you see how friendly they were acting towards each other during the feast? Dao was all over him." Len added.

"They deserve each other." Zhen concluded.

She wanted to hear from the others, mostly her father and brothers. She didn't really care about Dao and Bo.

"I am more concerned with my father."

Len and Jia nodded in understanding.

Zhen didn't want to spend this time talking about Wang Bo. She spent enough time thinking about him in Yecheng, but before she had a chance to change the subject, Jia spoke.

"Cao Pi had your things moved to his chambers today."

It wasn't the custom for a high ranking man to share his chambers with his wife, but it was what she and Cao wanted. Originally, her things had been put into a separate room on the other side of the castle from Cao Pi, but now he had her things moved to his chambers so they could be together more.

x

The feast could accurately be described as festive. It was exactly what she hoped for and more from Cao Pi, whom had spent most of the week preparing for it. She had offered to help, but he said he wanted to surprise her. The biggest surprise was that she hadn't expected there to be so many guests. All of Cao Cao's wives, sons, daughters and generals were there. Anyone who was anybody in Xu Chang was there. Now she knew that the Caos were much more popular than the Yuans had been since there was at least two hundred-fifty guest here, a hundred or more than what the Yuans could get to come.

The Wei soldiers were given the day off. However, plenty of them were stationed on the castle and city wall to keep watch since Wu was pushing at their borders.

Zhen was seated at Cao Pi's right hand side. He had his right hand on top of her left. Their fingers were interlaced.

"I'm sorry that I couldn't send word to your family soon enough for them to get here." He told her.

She gave him a smile.

"Don't worry about it. I'll write to them."

"We could visit them." He offered.

She shrugged.

"What about Sun Ce and Liu Bei? With Yuan Shao gone, they might come after Lord Cao Cao."

She hadn't taken to calling Cao Cao 'father', and 'Cao Cao' seemed to be too casual. No one called him 'Cao Cao' anyway. 'Lord Cao Cao' was quite a mouthful, but it would have to do, unless he would specify otherwise.

Cao Pi smiled.

"Hardly, father has Liu Bei on the run, and Sun Ce has is not really a threat."

"But didn't Sun Ce come to Liu Bei's aid against Yuan Shu? They could make an alliance against Lord Cao Cao."

"Don't worry Zhen, not tonight. No war will be made against Wei, unless they are cowardice bastards."

She nodded in agreement.

Cao Cao stood up. The hall fell silent.

"Thank you all for coming. The glory of Wei has truly been proven by your attendance."

Cao Cao turned to Cao Pi. Cao Pi stood up, without letting go of her hand.

"Everyone we have been blessed with a beautiful flower on our field."

"To my son and his new wife." Cao Cao toasted with his glass raised.

Zhen picked up her glass and took a drink. Cao Pi sat down next to her.

The gifts were fewer, but more expensive looking. Word must have traveled fast that she was a painter, because she how had every size of scroll made, every color of paint made and a dozen different kinds of brushes. Cao Pi was given a new horse from his brothers they named Ginger. Cao Cao gave him a new sword with a gold hilt and a jeweled guard. The blade itself was long and made of strong steel that would stay sharp for many years. Some of their other gifts were pots and oil paintings. The blacksmith gave them a gold horse bit carved with the Wei character.

The festivities went well into the night and she was growing tired. She didn't think that all the generals of Wei partied as long as they did. She just didn't know that men like those who were so serious all the time would spend so much time drinking and talking. She remained quiet. Cao Pi never left her side, but was either talking or laughing the entire time.

Then the time came that mostly everyone left. When Cao Cao left, she took Cao Pi's hand. They exchanged looks and slipped out of the hall. He led her down the walkway and into his chambers. He shot the door behind them. She swung her arms around his shoulders. He held her by the waist and lifted her off the ground.

Her heart raced and her breathing became fast and shallow as he carried her over to his bed. His hands weren't entirely soft, but his touch was gentle. His kiss was sweet. His body was hardened with muscles and scared from what could only be an arrow on his shoulder. There was a rugged scar on his left arm just above his elbow.

She let out a sigh. His hands caressed her arms and shoulders. His lips pressed against the base of her neck with gentle consistency. She ran her fingers through his hair and along the back of his neck. He would moan whenever she kissed a certain spot on the side of his neck.

It was a blissful night of gentle pleasure that she would never forget.

x

When Zhen woke up, she had her head resting on Cao Pi's bare chest. He had his arm wrapped around her shoulder and his hand was resting on her side. She carefully wrapped her fingers around his wrist and moved his hand off of her. Then she slowly raised her head and put her hands under her to push herself off of the bed.

She succeeded in not waking him up and wrapped herself in a blanket since she didn't feel like putting a dress on quite yet. She looked around the room and tried to decide on what to do. She didn't want to leave. She wanted him to wake up to her doing something, what it was, she hadn't decided yet.

That's when she noticed something on the corner. It was an easel and parchment paper. The mourning was still early. The sun was just beginning to rise over the hills. The air still had the night's chill and a gentle breeze blew in the trees. She decided to paint.

She quietly moved the easel and the chair from Cao Pi's desk, over to the balcony arch and set up the paints. First she painted the mountains. Then she painted the shape of the hills. When the sunrise came to its peak of beauty, she started on the sky. She liked to use bold and vibrant colors in her paintings. She started with the sun's bright gold color and continued on to the sky's many yellow, pink and blue colors and the dark clouds that hovered over the land.

She heard a call and looked up to see a single bird fly in front of the sun and out of sight. Zhen dipped the brush in the black paint and painted the silhouette of the bird with a few dabs of paint. Then she stood up and picked up Cao Pi's poem book and flipped through it to see if he wrote one about the sun or a bird, anything that tied into her painting of the view from the balcony.

After a few minutes, she found a poem about Xu Chang and started copying it in the top right hand corner of the parchment. When she finished copying the characters, she put the book down to fix a few mistakes she had made.

Then she heard Cao Pi roll over on the bed, but pretended not to. She just continued to paint. When she leaned back to inspect her work, Cao Pi kneeled down next to her and rest his head on her shoulder. He kissed her skin and admired her work.

"Beautiful." He told her.

She smiled.

"How long have you been up?" He asked.

"Not long."

"But you had the time to do this?"

"I've had plenty of practice."

For her, paintings and music flowed from her like poems flowed from him.

x

Xu Chang was full of life and people. Time seemed to have stood still here. The castle was full of art and beauty. There were golden statues of lions along the castle gardens whose flowers were in full bloom.

Cao Pi had to spend a good majority his afternoon with Cao Cao's war council. She hadn't been asked to join and didn't press the matter. Cao Pi often went to her for her opinion on things in the evenings anyway. This left her with the entire afternoon to herself most days. She spent most of her time either in the market with Len and Jia, or in the northern courtyard with Lady Bian. When Cao wasn't in council, they two would go riding for a few hours. There was plenty to do to keep busy.

One thing she didn't do was talk with Cao Cao's other wives. Lady Bian was the only one she really took to. Lady Liu was Cao Ang's mother, the oldest of all Cao Cao's sons. Lady Liu didn't take to her either, probably because she just married the man who might be able to outdo her son and be pronounced Cao Cao's heir. She was the key to Cao Pi's claim since Cao Ang didn't take a wife yet. So Zhen solved this problem by never being in the same corner of the castle that Lady Liu was.

Lady Huan was the mother of Cao Chong, Cao Ju and Cao Yu. Huan was the louder one of Cao Cao's wives. She always seemed to have something to say.

Lady Du, was the mother of Cao Lin and Cao Gun. She was kind enough and could often be seen with Lady Bian or Lady Huan.

Lady Qin was the quiet one. She spent most of her time by herself in her chambers. She was the mother of Cao Xuan and Cao Jun.

Lady Yin was a nightmare in more ways than one. Not only did she only ever seem to dress in black, she was always on the verge of losing her temper. The way her eyebrows slopped down toward the top of her nose seemed to give her a permanent frown. The cause of all this was probably that she was Cao Cao's first wife and only gave him one son, Cao Ju, who was born much too late to be Cao Cao's heir.

But more than anything else, Zhen was impressed with herself for learning this much and remembering it. As it turned out, she was growing to be more interested in politics than she thought she would be. That was probably because of Cao Pi discussing the problems Wei was facing with Wu and Shu.

Right now Zhen was walking along the pathway of the northern courtyard with Cao Pi. The council meeting had ended a few minutes ago, and as always, she had been waiting for him on the same bench outside their meeting room.

"Word has come to us that Wu and Shu and made an alliance. Wu sealed it by sending their own Lady Shang Xiang to marry Liu Bei. Apparently the two met when Wu went to aid Liu Bei with Yuan Shu. You were right when you said they could make an alliance against my father."

"So what's Cao Cao going to do?"

"He's summoning his navy on the banks of the Yangtze in the east." He told her.

"Yangtze isn't too far from Jiang Dong. Sun Ce might attack."

"Sun Ce is dead. One of his officers turned against him and killed him, or something like that. His younger brother, Sun Quan has taken over."

"Sun Quan will try and prove his strength, and Zhuge Liang is a force to be reckoned with. Your father should be careful."

Cao Pi nodded.

"My father has also recruited a new strategist."

"Oh?"

"A man called Sima Yi."

"You think he's any good?"

"We'll find out soon enough. My father's bringing him with to Yangtze."

"Tell me about him."

Cao Pi smiled.

"Why are you so curious about him?" He teased.

"I would like to know if our lord's new strategist seems capable of outsmarting the famous Zhuge Liang."

To add to that, he might become Cao Pi's strategist, and she wanted to have confidence in the man that she would have to trust her husband's life to.

"Sima Yi thinks fairly highly of himself. You can tell by the way he speaks as if he has years of experience already. When really all he did was watch what was going on at Guan Du in a map room."

"And Master Sima Yi thinks that's all the experience he needs?"

"I think that Sima Yi thinks he could lead an army against Zhuge Liang and return triumphant."

"Well Zhuge Liang has proven himself to be a more than the everyday strategist when he helped Liu Bei escape from our lord."

Cao Pi became annoyed.

"By means of cheap tactics."

"But our lord doesn't seem to be concerned."

"No, he's more concerned with Sun Quan and Wu who are pushing at our eastern border."

"And that's why he's summoning his navy on the banks of the Yangtze." She concluded.

Cao Pi nodded. He let out a long sigh. His shoulders relaxed, so she knew he became less irritated.

"Zhen, on a more personal matter, have you received word from your family?"

She shook her head.

"No, I'm beginning to think that they're ignoring me."

There was a long pause.

"Zhen, there's something I would like to ask you."

"What is it?"

"The people of Wei have really taken to you, including the soldiers. It would be good for morale if you would come with me on accompanying my father to Chi Bi."


	7. The Battle of Chi Bi

The Battle of Chi Bi

As it turns out, Cao Cao's fleet was just as impressive as his army was. The ship she was on like a house on water. There was a kitchen, a dining hall and there was even a stable on the bottom level. Most of the horses were kept on this ship. So it was called the 'stable ship'.

Cao Pi told her that it would take a few days to get to Chi Bi, and since they were traveling up river, it would take longer if the wind didn't pick up. But this time of year, the wind should help them travel faster since it blew from the North West.

Cao Pi was riding on the ship with Cao Cao. So Zhen spent most of her time with Cloud in the stable. Cloud wasn't taking to riding on a ship and was growing impatient with every day that passed. She kept the mare calm by brushing her regularly. Cloud's mane and tail had never been in better condition than they were now. Her hair felt like silk and there wasn't a single spot on her that stained her white coat.

Shao Len stayed in Xu Chang, but Jing Jia decided to come with. Zhen guessed that it was because Jia was sick of being cooped up in a castle and sailing to Chi Bi seemed like the perfect getaway.

Cao Cao's camp was on a dock on the northern shore on the Yangtze River. Master Pang Tong recommended that they link the boats together to prevent the soldiers from getting sea sick, which proved to be especially good for her. She had never really sailed at all before now, and she was feeling the sea's full effects.

x

Zhen led Jia into Cao Pi's tent. Everything of theirs had been brought in before they had arrived. Zhen found her trunk and opened it to find it filled with armor. Pieces of silver backed by black leather made the splinted armor. She started by putting on her light purple colored dress and knee high riding boots. Then she tucked her flute in her belt for luck. She strapped on her breast plate and arm guard. She wrapped her quiver around her shoulders and took her bow in hand.

"I wish you would stay." Jia told her.

She thought of when she said the same to Cao Pi back in Guan Du.

"I know that it will be hard, but try not to worry."

She wished she could have thought of something better to say, but she was not the poet that Cao Pi was.

Cao Cao's camp was over flowing with people, but she found her way to where Cao Pi told her to meet him, right in front of the dock connecting the shore.

"Zhen."

She turned and found Cao Pi.

"What's the plan?" She asked.

"You and I are to follow the shoreline and attack Sun Quan's camp from the west."

"What about the others?"

"Xu Haung's coming with us. Pang Tong will lead the attack from the east. Zhang He and Dian Wei will go down the center. Xu Zhu will stay in the main camp."

"What about Master Sima Yi?"

"He'll stay in the main camp with father."

Cao Cao must trust him if he was intrusting his protection to him. She could try to also, but it was hard to trust a man she had never met. Now she knew how Shao Len felt about Cao Pi.

"What about Zhang Liao?"

"He's going to lead a raid on Sun Quan's camp."

Cloud and Storm were led over to them by two Wei soldiers dressed in the classic blue uniforms. Cao and Zhen climbed up in the saddle and toward a unit of soldiers gathered before Xu Haung.

Cao Pi addressed the soldiers.

"Let us crush Wu and salt the earth with their bones."

They started marching south on a paved walkway. They went past an archery base filled with archers on four towers. Then they came to where the walkway met with the shore. There was a large sized base ahead. Was that an altar she saw above it? It couldn't be.

A scout came over to them galloping his horse hard as he could.

"My Lord, Zhuge Liang has ascended to the altar. He appears to be intoning some kind or prayer."

"Hum… If the south east wind picks up then we may be in trouble." Cao Pi mumbled.

"And a strange boat has been sighted on the Sun side of the river. It reeks of oil." The scout finished.

"A fire attack?" She asked.

"Tell Zhang Liao to not waste any time. Xu Haung, come with me. Zhen, that enemy base shall be ours, claim it at once."

She nodded and reined Cloud toward the fort. She kicked the mare's sides and led her men toward the gate of the fort, but the gate was swung shut.

"Break it open!" She ordered.

The men hacked away at the door until it was not but splinters. They charged through to find they were outnumbered two to one, but these were Cao Cao's elite soldiers. None of them would give up without a fight.

Zhen whipped an arrow from her quiver and shot one of the Shu soldiers who was charging her in the neck. Another came at her before she could get another arrow. One of her men ran him though with his sword.

She looked up and saw that the Shu archers stationed on the towers were preparing for a volley.

"Find cover!"

She reined Cloud under a long archway just on time before the arrows began to land. Most of her men followed her under the arch, but some were still out in the open. The arrows pierced through the men of Wei same as it did the men of Shu.

When the volley ended, she ordered her men to take out the archers. They scrambled up the ladders and killed the archers without much effort. She took care of one of the towers herself and nearly emptied her quiver. She saw the altar north of the fort's eastern archer tower. They would have to climb up the tower to get to the altar. She didn't like the idea of that. Not only would she have to leave Cloud behind, but their charge would be slow.

"Lady Zhen."

One of her men was coming with her arrows in hand. He must have gather a dozen of them and cleaned the heads with his own shirt since it was stained with red. She thanked him and put the arrows in her quiver.

"We have to take that altar down, but I don't want to go by means of that tower."

It was clever of Zhuge Liang to out his altar on higher ground.

"My Lady," Another soldier started. "There is a path on the other side of that hill. If we went that way we would have a straight shot at the altar."

"But we'll be downhill. Send a dozen men to the archer tower, the rest of us will make our way around."

A group of men went running toward the tower. She led the others around the steep him and up the pathway toward the altar. Her split charge seemed to be working.

She jumped down off Cloud and knocked another arrow. She raised her arm and shot an approaching Wu soldier. Were they in Wu territory already? Or had Wu and Shu merged their armies together?

Just ahead was the altar and a lone figure standing before it dressed in white and green robes.

"Zhuge Liang." She whispered.

She whipped an arrow from her quiver and knocked it to her bow string. She raised her arm and took aim, but just as she released her arrow, someone knocked her down and her arrow missed Zhuge Liang by inches.

With her bow still in hand, she stood up to face her opponent. A tall thin woman with waist long red hair stood before her. She held a short rapier style blade in one hand, and a bow in the other.

"Ah, so you are the wife or this cowardly tactician. Will he hide behind you skirts today pretending to strategize?"

"I can't fail here, I shall do my best to stop you."

"Allow me to test your resolve." Zhen replied.

Yue Ying tied her bow across her back and held her blade tight. Zhen's bow was useless in close range combat, so she tied it across her back and pulled out her flute.

Ying lunged her blade at her. Zhen knocked it away with her flute. Ying swung her blade at her head. She leaned back just enough to avoid the tip of the sword. Ying spun around again and brought her sword down at her, but she raised her flute, holding it by both ends to stop the sword in mid air. Their weapons deadlocked. They glared at each other.

"The wait is over. May this wind carry us to victory."

Zhuge Liang raised his fan. The feathers began to sway in the south east wind.

Zhen raised her leg and kicked Ying in the stomach. Ying fell over on her back. Zhen stood over and kicked the side of her head to knock her out cold.

Zhuge Liang turned to a tall man with long white hair and large red armor.

"This is all I can do. The rest I leave in your capable hands."

The man turned and left in a hurry. Zhuge Liang turned towards her.

"You have been a nuisance in my plan, and now I shall stop you."

She pulled her bow out and knocked an arrow. Before she had a chance to raise her arm, a screaming pain pierced the back of her head and shoulder. She fell to the ground and landed on her stomach. Pain swarmed in her back and shoulder. She reached and felt an arrow shaft. Her fingers followed the wood into her shoulder. Then she felt the back of her neck. It was tender to the touch, only a bruise.

She looked above her to find Yue Ying was standing over her. Her face was bloody and her hand held a rock, but she didn't finish Zhen off.

Zhen had spared Ying's life, and now Ying was sparing hers.

Archers surrounded them. Zhuge Liang and Yue Ying left together.

A volley of arrows was released, but none of them hit her. She felt herself going into a daze. Everything turned into a large dark blur. She couldn't feel the dirt beneath her, nor the hurt from her neck. All there was the throbbing in her shoulder.

After a while, the archers left, but she knew not to sit up. Not until she was sure that all the soldiers from Wu and Shu were gone. She listened quietly and remained still.

There were screams and cries in the distance and she was helpless to do anything. She pushed off the ground with her right arm since it was her left shoulder that had the arrow in it. She managed to sit up. Her head spun, so she blinked it off. There were a few others that also moved, but not many. Men from all three kingdoms were dead in this field.

She took one of her arrows from her quiver and stuck it in her mouth. She bit down hard on it and reached her arm to her shoulder. Her fingers wrapped around the arrow. She let out a breath and jerked.

She collapsed. Her screams were silenced by the arrow in her mouth. When she was sure she was done screaming, she spat the arrow out and sat back up again. Blood streamed down her back and arm. She used the sharp edge of the arrow head to cut a strip off her dress and pressed it against the open wound. She clamped her jaw against the throbbing pain and pressed her lips together to muffle any sound that might escape.

What should she do now? She couldn't just wait around and hope that the first one to find her was from Wei. She was in enemy territory and not many people knew where she was, but she wouldn't abandon her men.

She looked around her to find she was now the only one sitting up. All the others were lying motionless.

Then her head began to throb. It felt like something was crushing her skull. She closed her eyes and tried to blink it off, but nothing seemed to work. After a few seconds she gave into the pain.


	8. The End of Cao Cao

The End of Cao Cao

When she came to again, she found it was morning. The sun was slowly rising over the hills and seemed to give the land a gentle glow.

Zhen looked and saw that flies were starting to gather to the corpses around her. The stench was horrible. She stood up and looked around. There was a river close by. It wasn't the Yangtze river, but she could hear it's water and followed the sound. It was a clear gently flowing river. She kneeled at its banks and washed her face. She removed her quiver and pulled her armor off. She pulled down the collar of her dress and used a piece of fabric to splash water on her shoulder.

She felt someone's eyes on her. So she turned and found a tall man with tan skin and short dark hair watching her. He was wearing the armor of a Wei general, so she didn't move for her bow, but she did cover her shoulder. Then she stood up and faced him.

"Who are you?" She demanded.

"My name is Cao Zhi. Cao Pi ordered a search for you by Zhuge Liang's altar. I was ordered to go down to the Luo River."

Cao Zhi was Cao Pi's younger brother and biggest rival for becoming Cao Cao's heir. She didn't like how he was looking at her and she didn't like how he had been watching her behind her back.

"Where's Cao Pi?"

"The altar."

"Take me there."

She picked up her armor and quiver and followed him back where she came from. She knew the way back to that altar, but she didn't want to walk in front of him so he could watch her.

Cao Zhi offered to help her up the hill, but she didn't take his arm and continued on. She didn't remember it taking her this long to find the river. She had been so turned around by where he was leading her that she didn't know which direction they were walking in.

"Are we almost there?"

Cao Zhi didn't answer. She looked up at the sun, they were going south, but she didn't know what direction the altar was from the Luo River. She should have taken a notice of it. When she looked ahead and saw the altar and sighed with relief.

They climbed up another hill and came at the altar from the front side.

"Zhen!"

Cao Pi came running at her. He took her in his arms. How did both battles she was in end in this same way?

"How did you know?" She asked.

"I saw Cloud galloping toward the main camp without any rider. I knew you would never leave her unless you were hurt. When I came, you were gone, but I found your flute and bow. So I knew that you were close by."

"Did any of the men survive?"

"A few."

"Good."

"Let's go."

"Where?"

"Xu Chang."

x

Cao Cao had retreated west along the Huarong Road to draw Sun Quan away so the other generals could look for survivors. Liu Bei had seized Jing Providence, much to Wu's disliking. A Shu general named Guan Yu took post in a place called Fan Castle to prevent Wu from attacking. While in Xu Chang, Cao Cao had fallen ill. Wei couldn't attack because of the lack of leadership and lack of military strength. These conditions made a standstill of all the armies as the three kingdoms tried to decide what to do next.

Cao Pi was particularly distressed. Cao Ang had been killed during Cao Cao's retreat along the Huarong, now he was the leading contender for Cao Cao's throne.

Zhen followed Cao Pi to the northern courtyard. He was walking with Sima Yi. They were discussing something that neither one of them seemed to be happy about.

She was going to go over to them when she saw Lady Bian with Lady Liu sitting on a bench halfway across the courtyard. Lady Liu was sobbing and Lady Bian was clearly trying to comfort her. Although she had always avoided Lady Liu, she thought she should express her empathy for the mother who just lost her eldest son.

"I'm so sorry Lady Liu."

She expected Lady Liu to lash out and scream, but she didn't.

"Thank you Lady Zhen."

Zhen took a seat across from them.

"How is our lord doing?"

"Not well. Yong Li says he might not pull through this time."

Yong Li was doctor to everyone in the castle. He was a kind and smart man with a mild demeanor.

Lady Liu stood up and left. Lady Bian turned to face her.

"Cao Cao's summoned everyone of the court to gather to him at midday. He's going to give his final orders."

"That means that the wives aren't permitted?"

"No."

She looked over at Cao Pi and Sima Yi. They were still discussing something important. So she looked away and saw Cao Zhi approaching her and Lady Bian. What did he want?

"Lady Zhen, would you like to go for a walk with me?"

She looked over at Cao Pi. He had noticed his brother and was with them and was watching suspiciously. She looked at Lady Bian who stared at Cao Zhi. Great!

"Um… Alright."

She stood up and walked with Cao Zhi.

"I should thank you for helping me find my way back to Cao Pi." She told him.

That was painful to say. More so than she could have thought, but keeping the conversation about Cao Pi should bore Cao Zhi and make him leave her alone.

"I was hoping you could help me with something."

Oh no. She wasn't going to go and help her husband's rival. So she bluntly responded;

"Actually, I would like you to stay away from me."

Cao Zhi grabbed her arm and pulled her inside the nearest building. She yanked her arm from his grip, but he pressed her against the wall and put his hand over her mouth. She could smell the wine on his breath.

"My father's going to declare his heir at midday. If my brother doesn't have a wife, my father will have to declare me his heir."

He took his hand off her mouth.

"If you kill me, Cao Cao will know it was you."

"I'm not going to kill you Lady Zhen, I'll only make Cao Pi divorce you by shaming your honor."

He grabbed her shoulders. She struggled against him but he grabbed her throat and forced her to the ground. She sent her knee into his gut. He grip loosened on her throat. She kneed his gut again and this time he fell off of her. She got to her feet.

"Drunken bastard."

Zhen left him there and walked along the halls of the castle. Then she decided that it would be better if she went back to Lady Bian, who wasn't there.

She wasn't sure what to think. Cao Zhi was her husband's brother, but he attacked her! He wouldn't try that again if he wanted to have children.

A good hour must have passed. She found herself in the front hall of the castle. The sky had grown dark and it began to rain violently. Ahead she saw Cao Pi standing with Sima Yi on the balcony that overlooked the entire city.

"Your father is very bold." Sima Yi stated.

"Even on death's door, he still is a great man."

"Wei needs a strong leader, it's time you assume command."

x

The first thing that Cao Pi did as the new ruler of Wei was have Cao Zhi banished to a small country estate ten miles outside the city. Cao Zhi wrote often requesting to be allowed to return to Xu Chang, but Cao Pi never answered, much to her satisfaction.

Everyone in the castle seemed to be gloomy. The servants were quiet and Cao Cao's other wives weren't coping well. Lady Bian in particular wasn't doing well. She had fallen ill with grief.

She and Cao Pi still met and discussed politics, but because of the rain, they had to walk the halls of the castle instead of the gardens.

"Sima Yi managed to defeat Guan Yu and arranged for Wu to meet the brunt of Shu's anger." He told her.

"I shouldn't have doubted him." She admitted.

"Your heart was in the right place."

"I'm just glad that Master Sima Yi is as smart as he is. Your father was right about his talents. Your father was right about a lot of things."

"Such as?"

"That he continued his path of conquest. We took Jing back, and Shu is in shambles. Yet they'll attack Wu. One of those kingdoms will fall, and Wei will be left standing."

"And I don't think that father ever did forget Yuan Shao. Not with you around." Cao Pi added.

"Is that a bad thing?"

"I don't think so. He probably took pride in his domination of the Central Plains when she saw you."

Cao Pi smiled. She took his arm in hers and leaned her head against his shoulder.

"Cao Zhi must have written close to a thousand poems already. That's why he gained father's favor when we were young, but after he started drinking, he became unpredictable. It didn't take father long to realize that Cao Zhi's uses are few."

"You knew Cao Zhi was up to something when he came over to me, didn't you?" She asked.

"I had suspicions, but I don't think that he would be that reckless about it."

"Lucky for me he was."

Cao Pi nodded.

"I should have had him executed.

"It wouldn't have done any good. I'm not standing up for him. Having him executed would only make you look bad."

"What are you saying?"

"Forcing him to stay outside the city, where he can still know about the matters court, but can't get involved would be a better punishment than dying. It would also make you appear more… merciful to the people."

He gave her a look.

"The people will follow someone with strength, but who's also fair. You've proven your strength by finishing the Yuans. Now show your nobility by sparing your brother."

Cao Pi laughed.

"I think you just like the idea of keeping him cooped up in that estate."

She smiled.


	9. What Matters Most

9. What Matters Most

Six months later…

Zhen was sitting on one of the benches in the northern courtyard. It was a beautiful day out. The sun shined bright and warm on her face. There was a gentle breeze in the air that carried the smell of the flowers. The pond in front of her was filled with brightly colored fish. She loved this place. She loved the peace she could find here. She could clear her head from the frustrations of the court and refocus on what mattered most.

She ran her hand across her round belly. Cao Pi must be coming soon. The court meetings had been lasting longer than usual. Something important must be happening. Wu and Shu had clashed at Yi Ling and it was Wu that rose victorious. Liu Bei and most of his generals had been killed. However, Zhuge Liang and Yue Ying had survived. The two of them kept Shu standing, weakly. Now was the time for Wei to attack.

Zhen stood up, keeping a hand under her belly. Shao Len and Jing Jia stayed with her more often than before. Yong Li said she was still in good health and it should be a healthy baby. She could only hope that it would be a boy so that Cao Pi would have a worthy heir. Although he never said anything, she knew that the fact that he had became the King of Wei before he had an heir of his own had weighed heavy on his mind.

"Zhen."

She turned and saw Cao Pi coming. He placed his hand on her belly and gave her a kiss. Len and Jia left. She and Cao Pi took a seat.

"What's going on? Is Wei going to attack Shu?"

"Sima Yi has met Zhuge Liang's apprentice, Ma Su, at mount Jie Ting. We have better soldiers than Shu and a better strategic layout. So I'll wait to order Sima Yi to attack until I get there."

"Good, when are you planning to join him?"

"Not for a while."

"When?"

There was a long pause between them.

"A week."

There was a shorter pause before she asked;

"When will you be back?"

"I'm not sure, as long as it takes for us to conquer Shu."

"Then I'll go with you."

"What?"

"I'm going with you." She repeated.

"That's obscured! I..." He paused to soften his tone. "Zhen, I want you to stay here, where it's safe."

She nodded, reluctantly.

x

Cao Pi left a week from that very day. It was a bitter farewell. The days were long and lonely without him. She still slept in his chambers since she didn't have a room anywhere else. She took to visiting Cloud more often since she couldn't ride and to distract herself for a few hours.

Lady Bian's condition was getting worse. So Zhen spent most of her time with her.

"You should worry more about yourself." Lady Bian would tell her.

She would reply;

"There will be plenty of time to worry for me later."

It took a few days, but Lady Bian became well enough to go for walks around the courtyard, much to everyone's relief.

It had now been two weeks to the day since Cao Pi left and the days seemed to be dragging on even longer. She could swear that something was making time go by slower and there was nothing she could do about it. She tried to find ways to pass the time, painting worked some of the time. Other times she could play her flute. She hadn't played her flute in a while, so she decided to play away another morning.

That afternoon, she and Lady Bian decided to do something painting. She had been teaching Lady Bian for some time now, and Lady Bian was learning fast.

"Cao Pi must have gotten his handwriting from you." She told her mother in law.

Lady Bian smiled.

"I'm glad of it. My husband never did have very good writing. His letters were always so hard to read."

Lady Bian had spent less and less time talking about Cao Cao, but it was just as painful when she did. So Zhen tried to avoid bringing Cao Cao into the conversation when she could help it.

Jing Jia, Shao Len and Lady Bian's handmaidens came into the room carrying some trays.

"We brought some lunch and tea."

The two went over to the table and took a seat across from each other. Since no one of rank was around, the handmaidens joined them and poured themselves a cup.

"The council received word from Cao Pi today." Shao Len announced.

Zhen stopped drinking.

"I heard from Master Xiahou Dun when I was getting the tea that Cao Pi is returning to Xu Chang. Wei managed to defeat Shu and have Ma Su executed."

"That was Cao Pi's goal." Zhen added.

Everyone stared at her.

"Cao Pi wanted to get rid of Ma Su so that Zhuge Liang would have to begin training another apprentice, so he just wasted countless hours and he is getting rather old. The victory does belong to Wei in all ways." She finished.

It wasn't any secret that Jie Ting was a very important strategic point, nor that Cao Pi wanted to get rid of a potential threat to his kingdom.

They continued to talk all morning about things that didn't really matter, but it was fun to talk about them anyway. After a few hours, Zhen interrupted.

"Jia, go get Yong Li."

x

Waves of pain crushed her stomach. Sweat ran from her face. Jia dabbed her face with a cool wet cloth, but it didn't do much. She grasped Len's hand so hard she must have been crushing the bones of her hands, but Len only squeezed back.

The wave lifted and she was able to think clearly again. She had been here like this for the last ten hours and she was glad that Cao Pi wasn't here to see her like this.

Yong Li came over to her. He had the same serious expression that all doctors seemed to have.

"The baby hasn't turned yet."

"What?"

"It's only been eight months. The baby hasn't had time to turn yet."

"What's going to happen?" Jia asked.

"All of you, be ready for a long night."

x

Zhen woke up a few hours later. Everything was a blur, but she saw a bright light coming from the window. It was morning? She couldn't remember anything but pain from last night. She raised her arm and felt her flat stomach. She could hear voices, but couldn't make out what they were saying. She could only make out the tone of the conversation, and it wasn't light. She mustered all the energy she could to listen in.

"How are they doing?"

It was a woman's voice. It could be Lady Bian, or Shao Len. It wasn't Jia, Jia had a much higher pitched voice, but Zhen couldn't tell in the end.

"The child is fine, small, but fine."

That must have been Yong Li.

"What about Lady Zhen?"

There was a pause.

"We should know by sundown."

Sundown! How long had she been asleep? Had she missed her child's first day of life?

"What about Cao Pi?"

"He's only a few miles from the city gate."

She closed her eyes and rested. At least Cao Pi would be here.

x

Zhen heard the soft creaking of a door. She turned her head and saw the tall figure of a man standing in the door way. She immediately recognized him as her husband. She laid her head back on the pillow since her neck didn't have the strength to hold it up.

"Oh Cao…" She sighed.

He came over to the bed and sat on the chair next to her.

"Our son, Cao Rui."

She opened her eyes and looked. She had to blink a few times for her eyes to see them. Cao Pi was holding a small child with tan skin and dark fuzzy hair. The child had the most adorable face with bold brown eyes. The same eyes that took her breath away at the wedding feast in Yecheng.

She smiled and stretched out her hand. Her son had to use his entire hand to grab her finger, but even then, he could only get a hold on half of her finger.

"Cao Rui." She repeated. "It's a good name."

Cao Rui slept quietly in his father's arms. This is what mattered most.

"He's the most beautiful thing I have ever seen." Cao Pi told her with a smile.

"He looks like his father."

She watched her son hold her finger, but after a while, he fell asleep and his grasp on her finger loosened. She stretched out her arms for her son. Cao Pi handed him to her. She held her child close and watched him sleep.

"When did you get here?"

"Just after midday. I found Lady Bian caring for Rui. That's when Yong Li told me you weren't doing very well. How are you feeling?"

"Tired."

"Can you sit up?"

"I think so."

She used her arm to push herself up and leaned against the headboard, careful not to wake her son up.

"Have you announced his birth?"

"Not yet." He answered.

He poured a cup of tea and took Cao Rui out of her arms.

"The people will get anxious."

"I wanted to wait until you could stand by my side."

She smiled.

Cao Pi handed her the cup. She began to drink and found that she was thirstier than she thought and the tea was good. The aroma was refreshing. The warmth of the tea soaked through the cup and warmed her finger tips. Cao Pi took the empty tea cup from her and placed it on the table next to the bed.

She was glad that he was here for this. She was glad that he returned in victory. There were three victories for Wei today. One, the victory against Shu. Two, the birth of Lord Cao Pi's child. Three, the announcement of Lord Cao Pi's successor and heir.


	10. The Plains of Wu Zhang

The Plains of Wu Zhang

Everyone in Xu Chang was delighted to hear of the birth of Cao Pi's son, but none were more joyous than Zhen Ji and Cao Pi were. Cao Pi made sure that his council meetings didn't last as long and spent as much time as he could with her and Rui as he could.

Rui was a quiet baby who was very fond of being held. He slept through the night well and only cried when he was hungry. She made sure to feed him whenever he wanted so that he could grow to be a tall man like his father was.

She made sure that Lady Bian could also send a large amount of time with Rui. It seemed to do her good to spend time with her grandson.

"He gets that from his father." Lady Bian would say whenever something Cao Rui did would remind her of Cao Pi. "I'm so glad that I've lived long enough to see my grandson."

They had grown found of taking Cao Rui to the northern courtyard where they could let him watch the fish swimming in the pond and the birds nesting in the trees whose leaves were beginning to turn to a bright gold color.

"The trees are so pretty this time of year." She stated.

"They are." Bian agreed.

Cao Rui was resting quietly in his grandmother's arms. His eyes were droopy from watching the fish for so long.

She turned and saw Cao Pi coming with a scroll in his hands.

"Zhen, can I speak with you?"

She nodded and left Rui with Lady Bian. Cao Pi lead her back into the castle and stopped in one of the dark corners that overlooked the courtyard.

"What is it?" She asked.

"I'm leaving for the Wu Zhang plains. Sima Yi and I are going to do battle with Zhuge Liang."

She looked down at her feet.

"When do you leave?"

"At first light."

She looked up at him.

"First light." She whispered.

He didn't look any happier than she was. She looked over at Lady Bian who was still holding Cao Rui.

"I'm coming with you."

"Zhen…"

"Rui can stay with Lady Bian. There's no one else I would trust him to more than her. Listen Cao, you're going to need someone you can trust against Zhuge Liang. Without Cao Cao and Cao Zhi, you'll be short handed. You know that I can fight."

Cao Pi sighed and threw his head back.

"Why can't you be content in staying in the castle and caring for our son like a regular house wife would?" He asked.

"Because I'm not a regular house wife," She answered with a small grin. "but you knew that about me since the day we first met."

"I did." He admitted.

"I'll tell Lady Bian that she's in charge of caring for Cao Rui."

x

They left for the plains of Wu Zhang at first light after saying their good-byes. It was more painful than she could have imagined to bid her son farewell knowing that someone might not return. She tried not to think of her son on the long and lonely ride to the plains of Wu Zhang. Rui was safe with Lady Bian and Shao Len. Shu would throw everything into this battle and Wu was still trying to recover from the battle at Yi Ling. Xu Chang wouldn't be attacked.

Cao Pi's camp was set up north of Shu, at the base of the foothills on the other side of the river. There were four of Wei bases set between the camp and the foothills. That's where Wei will launch the attack from.

The plains of Wu Zhang were only a few miles away from Zhongshan. If she could keep Cao Pi in a good mood, then he might agree to giving her family a visit.

She was waiting in Cao Pi's chambers for him to return. The war council was making their final preparations before advancing on Shu. The door opened. Cao Pi came in and approached the trunk next to the chair she was sitting on. She stepped in front of him and asked;

"How did it go?"

She flipped the top of the trunk open and pulled out one of his bracers. She strapped it around his wrist. He watched as her fingers worked the armor.

"We're going to leave the camp within the hour and march from the bases by sundown."

She tied on his other bracer then she pulled out his breastplate and clipped it into place.

"What's our strategy?"

"Shu's in a hurry and there are rumors that Zhuge Liang is close to death. We'll wait them out and attack when they aren't ready."

"What do you want me to do?"

"You and I'll attack from the east fort and work our way south over the foothills. Then we'll swing west and move towards their main camp."

"It sounds like a good plan."

x

This battle was Shu's last desperate attempt to conquer Wei, and it showed in their tactics. The commanders charged eagerly into battle, making the foot soldiers more hesitant, hence, they were easy to kill and it was easier to gain more ground. They fell into ambushes. They dug themselves deeper into the ranks of Wei and were dispensed in their own blood. Shu soldiers fled and deserted their commanders. Zhuge Liang had died and Shu was in shambles. A few of his pupils were trying to turn the tides around, but it proved to be hopeless.

This would be a battle for the textbooks. Wei was on the verge of a perfect victory. They only lost two generals and minimal soldiers. Their supply lines were still intact and they didn't lose any bases. Surely future generations would study this battle and reflect on what they did this day.

Zhen and Cao both sat on their horses in the middle of the skirmish. Zhen used her bow to shot approaching enemies while Cao used his sword to cut down the ones next to them.

They stormed Shu's main camp. Thanks to Zhang He's charge, a path had already been opened to them. His death brought about the fall of the camp. He died with honor.

"This belongs to me." Cao narrated.

Zhen smiled and looked around. Green and blue uniforms were stained with crimson. Arrows were scatted everywhere. The faces of the live soldiers were sweaty and dirty. Those of Shu were murky. Those of Wei were content and joyful.

"Let's look for survivors." She suggested.

Cao nodded. They split up. They would look for Wei survivors first, then they would look for those from Shu, who would be given the choice to defect or die.

She flipped over a few bodies, her hands were already dripping red. She wandered out of the camp and continued her search on the plains.

"Look around, you are alone, you know what that means do you not?"

She turned around. Yue Ying was standing before her with her dagger in hand. Tears ran down from her puffy eyes. Her nose flared with ever breath.

"I pity you as well, having such a weak husband must leave you …unfulfilled I imagine."

"There are none who can match with my lord's wisdom and integrity, not that you or our lord would know what that is."

Without emotion, Zhen reached in her belt and pulled out her flute, which she kept there for good luck. Ying came at her with her short sword coming at her head. Zhen raised her flute and blocked it. Ying came at her again in the same way, so Zhen blocked it the same way. Ying spun around and used the speed to swing her blade at Zhen's neck. Zhen ducked under the sword and stepped back. This time, Zhen attacked first. She slashed her flute at Ying's face. Ying jumped out of the way. Zhen spun around and kicked Ying in the stomach. Ying fell back and dropped her sword. Zhen bent down to pick the blade up and held it at the ready. Ying was winded.

"I was prepared for this possibility." She managed to say as she choked on her tears.

Zhen's hand began to tremble in rage, but in that moment, she saw a small piece of herself in Yue Ying. They both had a son to raise, only she would have Cao with her, Ying wouldn't. She threw the sword at Ying's side.

"Go, and raise your son, but never attack Wei again, or I will kill you without a second thought."

She turned and walked away. Shu was defeated, their ranks were no more, so there was no point in killing a woman with a son whose kingdom had fallen. She may be a hard woman, but she was no savage. She was the civil and diligent empress, and she wasn't called that for no reason.

Zhen went back up the Shu's main camp.

"Any survivors?" Sima Yi asked her.

"No." She answered.

She was glad she came to Sima Yi first and not Cao Pi, or else she may have had to lie to him about Ying. At the very least, she would have had to explain herself.

This was her first chance to really get a look at Master Sima Yi. He had intriguing dark brown eyes and long straight hair under his tall hat. He wore traditional purple strategist robes with long flowing sleeves. He carried himself tall with his pride and his shoulders square.

She looked away just on time to see Cao Pi coming toward them.

"Lord Cao Pi."

Master Sima Yi made his hand into fist and held it with the other as he bowed. Then he stood straight again.

"Our victory is complete. Shu has fallen before our might, and now only Wu remains." He finished.

"You know that Wu will try and attack before we have a chance to regroup." She told Cao.

"Sima Yi, go back to Xu Chang. Make sure the men are ready for anything."

Sima Yi bowed once again and left. Cao turned to face her.

"Shall we go back to our camp?"

She didn't have to look around at the corpses surrounding her to make up her mind.

"Yes."

x

He held up a letter with a playful smile on his face that made her burn with curiosity. What was the letter?

"It's from Zhangshan." He told her with a smile.

She snatched it from his hands and opened it. It read;

'_My dearest Zhen,_

_Times have been hard lately and father's health seems to be on the rise. We're sorry it has been so long, but postage had been next to impossible. We've all sent word to you, but don't know if you'll received any. We've received one about your marriage to Lord Cao Pi. We would like to visit. Wang Bo is going on a trip to Xu Chang in a few weeks, but that may be a matter of days by the time you receive this. Talk with him about when we can visit._

_Zhen Yan'_

Yan had sent this, the middle brother.

Zhen sat down on the bed as she tried to think. She held her mother's necklace between her tumb and first two fingers. She held the parchment in the other which rested on her lap. Cao asked to see, she handed him the letter and watched his face as he read it.

Why was this the first letter she got from them? They made it sound like they sent dozens of letters. Even in a time of war, she should have received more than one. They couldn't all have gotten lost. What if they did? Then where were they?

What did the letter mean that father's health was on the rise? He had been sick when she was married to Yuan Xi. Had he gotten better? Had be gotten worse before he got better? Did the doctor finally figure out what was wrong with? This letter made more questions in her mind than it could answer.

"Who's Wang Bo?" He asked.

He snapped her from her thoughts.

"My sister's husband."

He looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Why would he come to Xu Chang?"

"I'm not sure."

"Well, aren't you glad to receive word?"

That's when she realized that she hadn't reacted at all. She let a smile escape her lips.

"I guess that I excepted that I wasn't going to see them again, and now… It's just very much unexpected. I should be glad, but it will be easier to be glad once we're back home."

Cao sat next to her and let out a sigh.

"I'm afraid Xu Chang's not going to be the same."

She gave him a look.

"Why not?"

"With Wu attacking He Fei, I've had no choice but to evacuate all members of the court to Xu Chang… That includes Lady Guo."

"Are they at Xu Chang now?"

"Not yet, I was hoping to beat them there."

"When did you send orders of evacuation?"

"A few hours ago."

She looked away. So, she was finally going to meet Lady Guo, there was one woman that she wouldn't mind killing.


	11. Lady Guo

Lady Guo

They returned to Xu Chang a few days later. Lucky, they did beat Lady Guo there. She didn't trust Guo being there when there wasn't anyone there she trusted to make sure she didn't cause any trouble. They didn't need to return to Xu Chang and find that she corrupted one of the members of the court. She didn't need to meet her to know that she never would trust her, and Cao Pi wouldn't question it. It was wise of him.

Zhen wasn't one to hold a grudge against someone she never met, but at the moment, Guo was the main target of her hatred. Dao, Bo, and the Yuans were the only other targets. The Yuans were dead, so she no longer had a right to hate them so. Bo and Dao were no longer a part of her life, and she was married to Cao Pi, so she didn't have a real reason to hate them. That only left Guo.

First thing Zhen did when they got back was go to the northern courtyard to find Lady Bian. Zhen didn't like the idea of Lady Bian being the only one in Xu Chang with Rui, but as she said before, there was no one in Xu Chang she would trust more.

"Zhen you're back!"

Shao Len and Lady Bian were sitting on their knees across from each other with Cao Rui sitting between them. She went over to them and took Cao Rui in her arms.

"We heard that it was quite the victory at Wu Zhang." Lady Bian told her.

"It was." She answered.

Rui began to pull at her hair. She offered him her finger instead.

"Zhen, can I speak with you alone?"

The handmaidens stood up and left.

"I hope Rui wasn't too much trouble." She started.

Lady Bian leaned in close.

"Lady Guo is due to arrive tonight. I don't know what will happen when she does."

"What do you mean?"

"When you kill someone, you have a reason right?"

"Yes, I only kill those who are in my lord's way." She answered.

"Lady Guo is not so noble, she kills whoever is in her way."

There was a long pause between them. What was Lady Bian saying?

"Are you saying that she is a murderer?"

Lady Bian nodded.

She didn't believe it. Although she hated Guo, she knew she was nothing more than a courtesan, not a murderer.

"I didn't think that we would see her return here, so I didn't tell you everything, but now that she comes, I must. She killed members of the court so that she would gain more influence. Those of us who knew, couldn't say anything, or we could have been killed."

"I doubt that…"

"Zhen, she has connections with the right people."

She couldn't think of what to say next, but she somehow managed to blurt;

"Cao Pi would want to know if she was a murderer."

Lady Bian nodded.

"Yes, I told him, that's why he sent her away. Now that he has a wife and heir, he could execute her, but I don't think that he will."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying to keep Rui close. He's the biggest obstacle between herself, and the title of empress."

Now that Wei had taken care of most of the outside problems, she would have to take care of the inside ones.

x

Close is exactly where she kept her son. She spent the afternoon with Cao and Rui in the northern courtyard. She sat in the grass as Rui looked around at whatever looked interesting. Cao Pi sat on the bench behind her with his books of poems on his knee. He had a small grin on his face as he wrote line after line. She looked forward to reading it when night came.

But all too soon, a horn sounded. A traveling party had arrived. Shivers ran down her spine. Lady Guo was here. She had never dreaded meeting someone before. Everyone dreaded it. She know it. It hung over all the castle like a storm cloud. Everyone knew it was there, but no one could do anything about it.

Cao Pi tucked his book under his belt. Zhen stood and picked Rui up. She walked next to her husband, not behind him, as they went to the courtyard.

They found a group of wagons pulled by tall horses in front of the gate lead by Zhang Liao who bowed before his lord.

"My lord, I beg you to return me to He Fei. I will crush Wu."

"I have no doubt that you will, we will discuss this tomorrow. For now, enjoy the day off." Cao responded.

Liao smiled.

"Yes my lord."

He bowed with his fist held in his palm. Then unexpectedly he regarded her;

"Lady Zhen."

Then he left. She watched him leave, surprised by what he had done. Generals didn't normally give her any attention, unless they had something to say to her. Sima Yi was the only one to really give her any regard. It made him easy to respect, but something about him still kept her suspicious of him. She didn't know what it was, but it was there.

"Cao Pi."

The icy voice pierced her nerves and snaked its way up her spine. She turned to see who must have been Lady Guo. Guo had very straight dark hair and bangs cut above her eyes. Her eyebrows had a curve that gave her a permanent frown. Her eyes themselves were an ugly light brown color. Her skin was completely flushed of any color. Her lips were tight, and her whole face seemed to be stiff. Somehow, she was still very beautiful. Zhen saw why she had been giving to Cao as a gift.

Zhen kept her face emotionless, but she was sure that it portrayed her sense of superiority. She was Cao Pi's wife and the mother of his heir. Guo was nothing, a sonless whore.

"Lady Guo." Cao replied flatly.

He clearly didn't like how she didn't address him as 'lord'. Someone with Guo's social status shouldn't call Cao Pi any less than 'lord'.

Guo stretched out her hand to his face, but he leaned away. Her hand retreated back to her side. That's when Guo saw her.

"And you are?"

Zhen refused to glare, but her eyes did anyway.

"This is Lady Zhen, my wife." Cao said for her. "And our son, Cao Rui."

Guo eyed her up and down.

"You're Zhen."

"Lady Zhen." She corrected.

Guo gave her a look of anger, then she turned back to Cao.

"Can you show me to the room?"

The room? Did Guo honesty think that she would be sharing one with Cao tonight? Did she honesty think that she was someone to Cao? She was no one. Zhen didn't have any doubt that Cao would take her to the wing with the concubines.

Cao had no choice but to lead her away. Zhen didn't follow. She didn't have to, and she didn't want to. She didn't need to go with to know they were going to the concubine wing.

Rui began to squirm. He liked to be held, but not for an extremely long time like this. She wasn't sure where to go now. She wasn't going to go back to the northern courtyard, going there meant that she would have to go past the concubine wing. It was too early to put Rui to bed. So she decided that she would entertain him in the stable. He loved it when she took him there to pet the horses.

So she took him to the stable. She held him with his back to her so that he could look at the horses. He would reach out and touch the tips of his fingers against Cloud's nose. He pulled his hand back and squealed with delight. Cloud snorted because of the noise, making Rui laugh even harder. His laugh was something to laugh at.

"Zhen Ji."

That icy voice again.

She turned and saw Lady Guo standing before her. Rui's laughs must have drowned out the sound of her footsteps. She had specified 'Lady Zhen' before, but if Guo didn't want to follow the code of respect, that was fine by her.

"Guo."

Guo nodded at Rui as she stepped close.

"He's only slightly younger than my daughter,"

Her daughter? Cao said he didn't have any children with her!

"Nu Ming." Guo finished."

Nu Ming… Zhen wasn't familiar with the name.

"I'm afraid I forgot his name."

"Rui." She responded dryly.

"Cao Rui?" Guo asked, emphasizing the 'Cao'.

She snapped her attention to Guo and gave her a hard glare.

"Yes."

Guo looked away.

Was she suggesting that Rui's surname was Yuan!? Zhen felt her face turn red. Her hart began to pound in her head. She clamped her jaw. Wait a minute! Guo was in He Fei for years, Cao Pi told her he had never been there before. Was Nu Ming's family name Cao, as in Cao Pi? Not one of the other Caos.

But before she had the chance to ask, she turned and saw Cao Pi coming. He was too far away to see them yet.

Guo quickly left without another word, telling her that she clearly wasn't supposed to talk with her. How could have Guo beaten Cao here? She couldn't think of anything, other than her running here.

Zhen turned back to Cloud so Rui could continue playing his game of pulling at her mane. Cloud only snorted. When Cao Pi came close enough, she asked;

"Is Lady Guo comfortable?" She asked coldly.

If she could keep that confrontation with Guo a secret, she would.

Cao Pi moved next to her and gave Cloud a pat on the neck.

"She's less than pleased about stay in the western wing."

The western wing was what she called the concubine wing, were the men of the court went looking for entertainment.

"Zhen I know you're not happy with her being here. I'm not going to ask you to try and get along with her, but don't let her get the better of you."

She didn't respond.

"She's not worth it…"

"Why did you have to bring her here in the first place!?" She demanded, she could no longer hold her tongue. "Why couldn't you have sent here east toward Fan Castle, or north toYecheng?"

There was a pause. He clearly couldn't think of the right words.

"Shao Len and Jing Jia found me and asked me to tell you they want to meet you at the gate." He told her.

"Did they say what this is about?"

"No."

He had dodged her question completely. Then he took Rui from her arms.

"You go and see what they want. I'll wait here"

She nodded and left. Cao Pi would never offer to wait somewhere for Guo. He did for her. He probably wanted some time to think of a satisfying answer for her, but what did Len and Jia want? Whatever it was, she doubted it could possibly be more important. Regardless, she went to the courtyard and found the two of them exactly where Cao Pi said they would be.

"Zhen, thank goodness you've come."

Both of them rushed toward her.

"What is it?"

"We went out to the market to try and find some cloth for our new winter blankets, and we saw Wang Bo there. He's staying at the brothel." Jia explained.

Bo was here! At the brothel!?. Staying at the brothel wasn't cheep, so he wasn't staying there to save some coin, which meant that he couldn't have married Dao yet. No married man ever stayed at a brothel if he wanted to keep his wife.

"We didn't know what to do, so we came to you." Len finished.

"Did you speak with him?"

"No." They both answered at the same time.

"We didn't even let him see us." Jia added.

"Good." Zhen told him. "Follow me."


	12. The Brothel

12. The Brothel

Zhen didn't have long. She guessed that she had an hour, at most. Sima Yi had gone to Cao Pi with urgent business. They could talk for hours, or only a few minutes. It all depended on how long Len and Jia could keep everyone believing that she was with them as they made her a new dress. In all realism, Len knew her measurements by heart, and Zhen's weight had returned to its norm after having Cao Rui.

She pulled her shall over her head as if it were a hood and held it in place so it wouldn't move and show her face. She kept her gaze low so she wouldn't draw attention to herself as she walked in through the brothel door. The brothel was no more than a pub with benches lining the walls and tables spread everywhere in between. Women spread themselves over any man that they could spot who had a pouch tied to their belts.

Zhen went to the side and through the first she came to. The room was like a wardrobe. Dresses hung on one of the long walls. They weren't really dresses though. Dresses covered, these would show more skin than they would cover. There were mirrors on wood planks that were littered with different kinds of face paint.

Luckily, no one else was here. So she got to work. She had seen whores paint their face before, all of them put on as much around their eyes as they could and overly powered their faces. This was perfect for her since she couldn't be recognized. She started by painting the over the mole on her cheekbone. Then she used a black brush to line around her eyes and black powder on her eyelids. Using the fair colored powder, she went over her entire face until the pink of her cheeks were gone.

The planks were also lined with perfumes, which she didn't touch because she never wore perfume and Cao Pi would notice it when she returned to the castle. She looked in the mirror. Only a trace of her previous face could be seen. So she lined her lips with a blood red glossy paint. Now she couldn't recognize herself, but just to be safe, she pulled her hair up and let a few strays escape the bun. There, now she looked like a whore.

She pulled off the detachable sleeves of her dress. Then she took off her rings and necklace. Then she wrapped her shall around her waist and tucked everything in it at her waist. Lastly, she put on some jewelry she found in a box. All of it was made of a fake gold and was oversized in every way.

She looked in the mirror one last time, but someone else was staring back at her, perfect.

She left the room and went back into the pub of the brothel. She saw one of the whores go over to the bar keeper and hand him at least a dozen coins she had earn in ways Zhen didn't care to know. The bar keeper must also be the owner. If he was the owner, he would know that she wasn't one of his whores.

She followed the whore to the back of the room. When she paused for a split second, Zhen grabbed her arm.

"Excuse me, I'm new here and he," She gestured at the bar keeper. "told me that he had a customer waiting for me, but I can't find him, can you help?"

"Lee?" The whore asked.

Lee? She had mistaken 'he' for 'Lee'!

"Ohhhh… Lee right." The whore started. "Well, this guy of yours must be someone important, because no gets to ask for one of by requests unless he paid extra. Do you know his name?"

Zhen tried not to show relief.

"Umm, Bo something… Wang Bo."

She tried to sound nervous, the kind of nervous that would be expected from someone like the person she pretend to be.

"Wang Bo… Wang Bo…" The whore repeated as she thought. "I can't think of anyone off hand, but there is this guy who called himself 'Bo'. He's in the stable."

"The stable?"

"Don't be too worried, the stable can be a great place to catch some extra…"

"Right, thanks."

Zhen left, keeping her gaze low so that the bar keeper wouldn't see her.

"Hey wait!"

Zhen froze. She slowly turned.

"The stable's that way."

The whore gestured over toward the door behind her. Zhen smiled nervously and left. She pulled the door open and stepped in the stable. Unlike the pub, the stables were dead silent. Wang Bo wasn't here, but then she heard a murmur. She recognized the voice immediately, Wang Bo. His voice had come from the back of the stable. She followed the sounds of his voice and found him lying on the floor between his horse's front and hind legs.

She striped herself of the fake jewelry and put her own back on. Then went over to a bucket of water and carefully washed her face until it was back to its normal state, paint free with a little brown around her eyes. The water however, looked like the water in her cup after she was done cleaning one of her paint brushes in it. So she grabbed the bucket to dump it out, but then she had a brilliant idea.

She put the bucket down and carefully led Bo's horse from the stall so that he wouldn't be stepped on. Then she picked the bucket up and emptied it on him. He let out a shout. She threw the bucket next to him.

He stood up while trying to shake the water off of his arms. He paused when he felt her eyes on him. Then he looked up and saw her.

"You wanted to talk to me, well I'm here now."

He only stared at her.

"What do you want Bo?" she asked.

He began to take a few steps toward her, but she backed away slightly.

"Zhen, I…"

"What?"

"I never thought I would see you again."

"Oh stop! Something happened between you and Dao, so you come crawling back to me? I have a family now Bo. I have duties."

"Duties? Like giving your lord as many sons as you can manage."

"You know nothing about Cao Pi!"

"I know he doesn't know you like I do."

"You never knew me, you never cared to know me. All you cared about was Dao, for whatever reasons. You made your choice, and I've made mine. I will not back down from it. Now leave. If you wish to tell my family I wish they would come as soon as they can, I would be grateful."

She turned to leave, but Wang Bo rushed toward her.

"It doesn't have to be like this Zhen. Run away with me."

She stared into his eyes and saw he meant it, it wasn't any wine speaking. It really was him, but he couldn't seriously think she would consider it.

"You can't be serious."

He grabbed her arms.

"Zhen…"

"Don't say that! Don't even think it Bo. You had your chance and you threw it away."

"I wasn't the one that sent you away."

"But you didn't fight for me either. You just watched as Yuan Shao took me away. You did nothing. At least my father and brothers fought for me. You just stood by watching as the soldiers forced me into the wagon. I hate you for that Bo."

She pushed him away.

"Is this all you came for?"

Bo looked at his feet.

"No, Dao kicked me out of the house."

"Why?"

"We got into a fight. When we got your letter saying that you wanted us to come, I told Dao I wanted to come, she didn't. She told me that if I wanted to go, I would be going alone."

"So you came here for entertainment?" She assumed, referring to the brothel.

He didn't look up at her.

"You came to me for entertainment!"

"Dao kicked me out. I wanted some comfort."

She was disgusted with him. How could she have fallen for such a pig?

"You've changed Zhen."

She looked at him to find his hungry eyes on her.

"No, you've changed Bo. When did you become such a womanizing bastard? I have nothing more to say to you. If you will please tell my father to come whenever he can, I would appreciate it."

She turned to leave.

"Maybe I won't. Maybe I wish for something in return."

Without turning or missing a beat, she replied;

"Keep wishing."

She pushed the stable door open and pulled her veil over her head as she walked back out into the street. The sun had set. She wasn't sure how long she had been away from the castle, but she wasn't going to waste any time to get back to it.

She was glad to find that Shao Len and Jing Jia had put Cao Rui to bed. Len volunteered to watch him all night. Zhen thanked her and promised to tell them both everything in the morning as soon as she could.

When she got to her and Cao Pi's bed chamber, she found it empty. That was good in two ways. For one, Guo wasn't here, and two, she could hide how long she had been away. She quickly changed and got into bed. This is when she released how tired she was. It had been a long day, and she was grateful that it was finally done. Hopefully everything would fix itself in the morning, but she knew it was a foolish hope, Guo would still be here, Bo would still be in the brothel doing who knows what.

The silk sheets were soft, but cold until her body heat would warm them. It made her feel slightly stiff. However, it was probably the thought of Cao Pi figuring out what she had done.

She heard the door slowly open. Cao Pi stepped in. She heard him pause for a long moment before moving across the room and changing. Zhen stayed very still, hoping that she could fool him into thinking that she was asleep.

The bed bounced slightly as he got in. What should she do? She wouldn't have been able to sleep through that, but she was too petrified to move.

Cao Pi answered that for her by leaning over her and whispering into her ear.

"I know you left the castle. Where did you go?"


	13. Internal Affairs

13. Internal Affairs

His voice was like ice in her veins, or like a fire spreading through her, and her lies were the kindling. Her heart raced as she tried to think of what to do. She could feel it pounding in her head. It was so loud she was certain he could hear it.

The time for lies and secrets was over. She was a horrible woman, and she told him so. She wanted Cao to send Guo away while she was sneaking out to see Wang Bo, in the brothel even! How could she expect that of him? She had no excuse, none whatsoever. There was no justification for sneaking away like that. Cao had a reason for having another lover, he needed sons, and she only provided him with one. One!

They laid in front of each other. Both of them were on their shoulder. Cao held her hands in his and rubbed his thumbs across the back of her hands as she spoke. That unbroken rhythm and steady glance kept her talking until she gave up everything. He didn't interrupt once. So she kept going, more than anything else, she was afraid of the silence, his silence. She didn't know if he was emotionless, angry or even worse, disappointed in her for her weakness.

"It's strange that we both had someone from our past come today. Both of them could have really been someone to us." Cao Pi spoke.

It took Zhen a moment to recover from the surprise and relief she found in his words.

"Except that Guo came to you. I went to Bo. I went and sought him out. Guo forced her way to you."

"But I didn't send her away either." He pointed out.

"You don't have a choice. You can't send her away now that she has a child. How would that make you look to the people?"

He closed his eyes so he wouldn't have to look into hers.

"I don't care what the people think."

"You have to."

"A true ruler doesn't ask for permission from his people to lead them."

She closed her eyes when she saw he open his. She could feel him watching her for a long time before he spoke;

"As far as Guo's child goes…"

"You don't have to explain yourself to me." She told him.

She opened her eyes to see into his. His brow was creased and stare was intense. She would have been frightened if it was an angry glare.

"Zhen, you honestly thought that there was a chance that child was mine?"

She paused as she tried to find the right words.

"You… You mean that… Guo…"

"I don't really care honestly. I don't care what she did or who she did it with. It's not that she has the right to give herself away like that, it's that I never cared to call on her."

She felt as if a heavy weight had been lifted from her chest, and it showed. Cao Pi had justified himself and proved his devotion, now it was her turn.

"Cao I… I'm sorry. Nothing happened between me and Wang Bo. I just told him to leave me alone and pass word for my family to come visit, but I had no right to go to him in the first place. I should have waited till tomorrow morning, when there would have been no reason to whisper."

He shrugged.

"I believe you Zhen. You have never lied to me before, not like that anyway."

A small smile curved the sides of his lips.

"I just don't want you to keep any more secrets from me, promise?" He finished.

"I promise."

He smiled a little tighter and gripped her hand tighter. She stared into his bold eyes and began to lose herself to them. Cao Pi had overcome the might of the Yuans and of Shu. Only Wu remained and Wei would crush them. She could overcome one whore. She had overestimated Guo. After all, what damage could one women with her status do?

x

Zhen woke up the next morning just as Cao Pi was getting dressed. She slowly sat up. Her head hurt from lack of sleep, but it would soon wear off.

"There's a council meeting today. We're going to plan a counter attack against Wu, but it doesn't look good." He told her.

"Hei Fei isn't too far from here. If Wu takes it…"

"We're going to make our last stand at Hei Fei castle. Sima Yi and I decided that last night. Zhen if we win that battle, the war will be over."

"I know, I'm glad for it, but I wish we could stay in one place for more than a few days at a time."

"I know, I do to. That time is almost here Zhen." He told her thoughtfully.

He walked out the door leaving her there alone. So she changed into one of her dresses. She put her hair up and decided to put on some of her nicer jewelry. It was then that Jing Jia and Shao Len came in. Zhen told them everything that happened last night. She left nothing out. Jia watched as the story went with wide eyes while Len kept her calm.

"Anyway, I feel better knowing that I don't have any secrets from him now. Where's Rui?"

"Sleeping." Len answered.

"Still?"

"Well, he didn't sleep as much as he normally does. He should wake up any second now."

"Let's go."

They left the room and started toward the hall to his chamber. She slowly opened the door in case he was still sleeping. She found him sitting up in his bed with an adorable alert look on his face. She went over to him and picked him up.

"Oh, there you are."

She held him against her hip with one arm to hold him and the other to support his back. She took him to one of the spare rooms. The morning was cold, so she didn't feel like sitting outside. Her hope was that she could avoid Lady Guo altogether. The conversation she had with Cao last night was helpful, but she still wanted to avoid Guo.

"Zhen, I thought that you would like to play your flute."

Jing Jia handed her the gold flute.

"It's been so long since you played, and we would both really like to hear some." Shao Len added.

She nodded. She raised the flute to her lips and took in a breath. Her fingers glided along the blue shaft. The flute's music was smooth and flowing, and yet, bold. Rui squealed in delight and grabbed at her hair. He was such the perfect son for Cao Pi. Rui was observant and taking interests in all the right things for the son of a warlord. He wasn't afraid of the horses by any means. If it wasn't for Guo, everything would be perfect enough, other than Wang Bo, but that was settled now. If he would tell her family to come to Xu Chang, she would be glad for it, if he didn't, then fine. Cao Pi, Rui and Lady Bian were her main family now.

They went for an early midday meal some time later. Then they met Lady Bian for some tea. She wasn't sure why, but she didn't tell her anything that happened between her and Cao Pi regarding Lady Guo. Maybe it was because it wasn't any of Lady Bian's business, or that she simply didn't want to discuss it anymore.

Cao Pi came to get her and Rui just before nightfall came. They went to their favorite spot in the northern courtyard, the bench under the peach tree next to the pond. She sat on the ground in front of him as he sat on the bench. She rested her head on his leg as they watched Rui watch the white and gold colored fish. Cao Pi leaned forward and wrapped his arms around her.

"He's growing so fast." He whispered into her ear.

She smiled. His breath on her neck sent shivers up her spine.

"We should get Rui to bed. He's going to need plenty of rest if he's going to grow to be as big as his father is."

A smile curved the sides of Cao Pi's lips when he understood. They both stood up. She took Rui in her arms and then, with the world's worst timing, Guo came around the corner. Guo stopped, frozen in her tracks when she saw her. Cao Pi walked right past her without a word. Zhen followed. She turned to go down the hall that led to Rui's room. She tucked him in his small bed and sang him to sleep. Ever so slowly, his eyes became droopy and he eventually fell asleep.

Zhen quietly left the room and closed the door behind her. Then she made her way down the halls back to Cao Pi's chambers. The room was dark and quiet. Cao Pi came from behind and wrapped his arms around her waist. She laid her head back against his shoulder as he began to kiss her neck. He began to undo the bottoms of her dress, starting at the top and working his way down.

x

Zhen let another sigh escape her grinning lips. She had and hand resting on the center of his chest. He had his arm wrapped around her so that she was still pressed against him. She could feel his breathing next to her. She could feel the beating of his heart below her palm.

"Now I understand why Lady Guo was so pleased about returning to Xu Chang."

x

The next morning was cold and rainy. Zhen, Jia and Len were with Lady Bian and her hand maidens on one of the covered balconies that overlooked the city. Rui was playing with some toys that were placed all around him.

"Cao's going to leave for He Fei castle soon." She announced.

Jia and Len looked up at her. She continued.

"I'm going to try and convince Cao to let me accompany him, but I don't think that he'll agree to it. He'll want me to stay here with Rui."

"But you want to go." Len finished.

She nodded.

"I feel torn between helping Cao and being a mother to my son."

"Do you think that you could be of any help to him?" Len asked.

"I feel that I could, but I also know that I want to be there for my son. I don't want him to be raised by others. I want him to be raised by me."

"No matter what you do, he will be raised by the court to an extent. He has to be if he's going to rule one day." Jia pointed out.

Zhen looked down at her son and didn't like the thought of him growing up amongst the liars and cheats of the court. She wanted him to learn of simple things too, such as games and music.

"Zhen."

She almost jumped at the mention of her name. She turned and saw that it was Cao.

"Can I speak with you for a moment?"

She was relieved that it was Cao and not Guo, but she was startled that he was out of his council meeting so early.

"We're leaving for He Fei castle. Wu's begun summoning their army to it. I'm going to go and lead the counter attack."

"When?"

"Midday."

She looked up at the sun. It was well past midmorning. That meant that they had little more than two hours. Could Cao really get the army going in two hours? He clearly thought that he could.

"Can you really leave Xu Chang in two hours?" She asked.

"We already have the infantries ready. We're only waiting on the archers and the cavalry." He explained.

"I suppose that you weren't planning on letting me come."

"No, I want you to stay with Rui."

He grabbed her arm and pulled her down the hall. He took her down the hall until he was satisfied that they were far enough away from anyone else that no one would hear them.

"Zhen, there's something else." He whispered. "Guo has been seen leaving the city multiple times. I don't know what she's doing or who she's seeing. I want you to find out."

"Why me?"

"Because if you were able to sneak in and out of that brothel without anyone recognizing you, you can follow Guo and find out what she's up to."

She was more than willing the help find something that would get Lady Guo in trouble, but was she willing enough to leave Cao with Wu by himself? He wouldn't really be alone though. He would have Zhang Liao, Xiahou Dun and the others with him. He wouldn't have her. She wouldn't be there to protect him. Although, she seemed to be the one needing protection.

She agreed to follow Guo around and find out what she was up to. Cao left for He Fei two hours later. Zhen, Bian and Guo were the women that made up the farewell party. He addressed Guo first.

"I'll be back before too long."

Guo reached for him, but he turned toward Lady Bian before she could get to him.

"Don't worry mother, father's dream will become reality. The land will be united under Wei."

"I am not worried about the land. I am worried about you. I want you return to me safely."

"I will." He promised.

Then Cao moved to her. He cupped her face in his hands. She placed her hands on the back of his neck to prevent him from pulling away. Their lips met a few times before he whispered;

"Don't forget what I told you."

"I won't."

They stayed in this position for a while, exchanging breaths. She didn't want him to go, but this was it. Shu was gone. If he could win this final battle at He Fei castle, then the land would belong to Wei and Cao Pi would become emperor.

He slowly pulled away from her, but they both kept their hands on each other until he was too far for their arms to reach. He went down the stairs and swung up and Ginger's back.

"Move out!" A commander shouted.

Cao turned in the saddle to look at her one last time.


	14. Enemies Unite

Enemies Unite

Zhen relied on the mission Cao had given her to keep her sanity. It was three weeks since he had left. What was taking him so long!? She hadn't received word from him in days, but if something had happened to him, she would have been one of the first to know, so she wasn't worried, but she wished that he wouldn't take so long. Yesterday they celebrated Rui's first birthday. Before she knew it, his voice sounds turned into words. His crawling turned into walking and Cao was missing it all. This was his one and only son and the future of his kingdom!

She sent him many letters requesting his presence, he usually didn't reply. When he did, he wrote back in a cold and intelligent manor of how his work forced him to remain. The intricate wording he used made her not want write for a few days at a time out of shame that she couldn't match him. She knew it was ridiculous, but that's how she felt. It didn't help her that she didn't receive word from any of her family. Wang Bo clearly didn't rely her message.

Nothing seemed to be going right, so she focused everything on Guo. If Guo even looked at someone wrong, Zhen would find out in some form or another. She even began pretending to be her friend so that she could keep a closer eye on her.

It was the eve before the morning that marked three months after Cao Pi's departure. It was the longest he had ever been away. They received word that Wei was victorious against Wu. There was a feast, but Zhen wasn't as interested in it. So she started toward her and Cao's bedchamber. She had to go by way of the northern courtyard. She walked in silence. When she looked up, she saw Lady Guo pacing around angrily. This was it! Zhen knew she was up to something. So she hid behind some bushes and watched carefully in absolute silence. Nothing happened for a few minutes. Zhen was also beginning to feel impatient, but she didn't move or make any sound.

"Lady Guo."

There was only one voice she had ever heard that was worse than Guo's, but that wasn't possible. He couldn't be here. Not here.

Cao Zhi moved out from the darkness. Guo rushed over to him and leaped into his arms.

If Zhen wasn't keeping herself in dead silence, she would have screamed. Guo and Zhi!? How could Zhi even have gotten into the castle!? He was banished to the country estate.

"Cao Pi will return soon. Sima Yi will return tomorrow morning. He's agreed to help us in the rebellion." Guo told him.

Zhi had his hands all over her. Zhen was disgusted. The two people she hated most in the world were together before her. Did Cao Pi know that Guo's daughter was probably Zhi's? It was a safe guess considering what she saw before her.

What rebellion were they talking about? Were the remains of Wu and Shu teaming up together? If Shu attacked Wei again, then Yue Ying would surely lead it. If they were, then it would be her fault. She let Yue Ying live. She should have killed Ying. She made a vow to never show mercy on any enemy again.

"When Sima Yi comes, we'll take hold of the city, capture Rui and kill him. Cao Pi will come for revenge." Zhi spoke to her.

Zhen froze. It wasn't Wu and Shu that were going to rebel against Cao, it was an attack from the inside! How many of their generals turned against Cao? Why? Cao Pi now had more power than the emperor by quelling the chaos.

But they were going to kill Rui! Lady Bian had been right about Guo. She was going to have to get Rui out of the city as soon as she possibly could, but how? How could she run away with the heir of the Wei kingdom? Even if she managed to get out of the city, where would she go? She didn't know if it was possible to make it to He Fei. She might be walking into a trap. Even though Wei was victorious, there could still be rebels from the remains of Wu and Shu. That threat was her own fault. Her stupidity angered her.

"And what of Lady Zhen?" Guo asked. "What are we going to do about her? Cao loves her and she won't exactly let us kill her pathetic son."

Rage flowing in her veins. Of course she wouldn't turn against her husband and let them kill her son!

"Is she still saying that he's the father of her son?" Zhi asked.

"Are you saying that Rui might not be?"

"Of course he's not. He was born eight months after the wedding."

"I asked her that myself, she says that he is."

The stables! It was when Guo first arrived, Zhen took Rui to the stables when she had Cao escort her to her room. Guo came and asked who Rui's father was. She had been insulted, but now she knew that there was more to that than a simple exchange of angry words. She should have seen that there was more to Guo than just a beautiful and jealous face.

"Of course she would say that. If she didn't, then he wouldn't be named Cao Pi's heir and he might have been forced to divorce her." Cao Zhi told Guo.

"So what do we do now?" Guo asked.

"We kill Rui to bait my brother to come, but keep Zhen alive to make him hurry."

"Wouldn't it just work better to hold them both as hostages?"

"No, by killing his heir, it will throw him into a rage. When he learns that Zhen is still alive, he'll rush over as fast as the army can travel, but when he sees the city under our control, all he'll think about is getting Zhen back. He'll surrender Wei to us for her life."

"Are you sure." Guo asked with raised eyebrows. "Your brother really loves her enough to surrender Wei to use for her? Even though there is no denying that Rui might not be his?"

"I know my brother. He's not like our father. Our father may have wanted to have a separate wife in his bed for every day of the week, but my brother is very different. He's never even called on his concubines, not one of them, not once. Then Zhen comes along and they have a child right away."

"Supposedly." Guo cut in.

"Does anyone know about us?"

Guo smiled. That smile made the hair on the back of Zhen's neck stand up straight.

"No, no one does. Cao Pi doesn't even care about our daughter. We got lucky Zhi, if I had had a son, something would have had to have been done. Daughters don't matter in the court. Although I was worried that Cao Pi would be upset by our affair, but as long as it was a daughter, he doesn't have to embrace her or reject her."

Zhen thought she was going to throw up. Cao had been right about Guo's daughter not being his. Guo just confirmed his words in every way. A weight was lifted from her shoulders. She didn't have to worry about that anymore, but now Guo's child was the least of her worries. She had to get Rui out of the city right now!

Guo and Zhi's lips met into a mess of rasps. Zhen didn't have time for anymore. Their quick breaths made just enough noise for her to slip away and get back to the castle. Her mind swirled. Sima Yi turned against them? Why him? How could Zhi and Guo be together? How could Zhi even get inside the castle? Rui! They were going to kill him! What could she do? She couldn't let herself be used as leverage against Cao, nor could she let herself be killed. Worse of all, they couldn't kill Rui!!!

"Jia! Len! Where are you!?"

She stormed into Rui's chambers. Len was there sitting in a chair by his bed. Her screams had woken him up, and now he was fussing in his fear.

"Zhen, what in the world…"

"I have no time. You and Jia…"

"What's going on?" Jai demanded as she rushed into the room.

"Guo's going to kill Rui. You two have to get him out of here now!"

She rushed over to where Rui's things were kept. She pulled out a few clothing items and stuffed them into a sack. Then she rushed to the crib and took him in his arms, for what may be the last time. She held him close and rocked him until he was quiet. The three of them continued in rushed voices.

"Guo and Zhi have started a rebellion against Cao with Sima Yi. They're going to kill Rui then hold me hostage until he forfeits the kingdom. You two have to take Rui to He Fei. It's your only chance."

"What about Zhongshan?" Len asked.

"No, it's too far."

There was a pause. She gave Len Rui's thing and handed him to Jia.

"What about you?" Jia asked.

"I'm staying."

"That's suicide!" Len shouted.

"Maybe, but my duty is to my husband and the kingdom of Wei. This way I'm serving them both. Go to the stables and take Cloud and Storm. I'll send Lady Bian after you, but you can't wait. Besides, if Guo suspects I know about her plan, she might not look for Rui if she sees that I'm still here. Now come!"

She grabbed Len's arm. Jia followed after them. She ran them down to the stable and flung the saddles on. As she put the bridles on, Len put Rui's things in some saddle bags and tied them on.

"Cao will recognize the horses long before you get to the gates of He Fei. Give him this so that he knows you weren't just stealing Rui away from me. He knows that I never take it off."

She pulled off her mother's necklace and put it in Len's hand. Len didn't look convinced.

"Don't worry, Lady Bian will be following you. She'll tell him the same story. He'll believe her if he doesn't believe you."

"We're not worried about Lord Cao not believing us. We're worried that he'll never see you again." Jia explained.

"If I do die, my death will not be in vain. Rui will be alive. I want you two to protect him and serve him as if he was me. After I send Lady Bian after you, I can make enough ruckus to distract everyone. I don't know how long it will work, but assume you have no time at all."

She took hold of both horses' reins and led them into western courtyard. The side gate was being guarded by a group of soldiers.

"Open the gate, by the order or this castle's lady!" Zhen shouted.

"What's the problem?" One of the guards shouted.

Zhen didn't know if these guards were on her side or Zhi's, so she made up a story.

"Our lord's horse needs to see the blacksmith right away. I think he has injured his hoof when he dropped his shoe."

"He looks fine to me."

"Do you know horses!?" She demanded.

"No…"

"Well I do, and I know my husband's horse. If you would like to explain to him why his horse is lame, then keep holding me up!" She snapped.

There was no response, but the gate was opened.

"Go! Lead the horses to the city gate and gallop like free wind when you get out of the city. No one will stop you now."

"May good fortune smile upon you." Len said sadly.

She kissed Rui on the forehead and said her farewell. The maids took the reins from her and led the horses away. She watched the bundle in Jia's arms until they turned the corner and were gone from her sight. Now she had to get Lady Bian out of here.

"Leave the gate open for when they return!" She ordered the men.

She turned and rushed back into the castle. She went to Bian's chambers and quietly entered, but it were empty. Bian must be at the feast! How could she get Bian out of the feast without drawing everyone's attention? If Guo hadn't already gotten knowledge of her sending the horses away with her maids, then she might be able to get Bian out also.

She started down the halls when she noticed her reflection in one of the gold statues. Her hair was a mess and her clothes were ruffled. What better way to get attention than look like a mess at a feast? So she combed her fingers through her hair and smoothed her clothes out. Then she went into the dining hall. The room was bustling with people and noise alike. Luckily, all of Cao Cao's former wives sat at the same table. So that's where Zhen would find Bian. Lady Bian was sitting at her usual spot.

Zhen knew that she couldn't confront her directly. She saw one of Bian maids walking past. She grabbed the maid's arm with such a firm grip that it made the made jump.

"Lady Zhen! Please let me go, Lady Bian has asked me to bring her her special tea from the doctor. She's been having headaches and…"

"Headaches are the least of her worries now."

"I don't understand."

"Come with me."

Zhen let go of the maid's arm and led her over to another table. She took one of the table cloths to write on. Then she took a candle and blew it out. She used the wick to write a brief message telling her to go the stables. All that the message said was; stables, now.

"Give this to her and make sure no one sees it."

She handed the maiden the cloth.

"But what about the tea?"

Zhen grabbed a cup of tea and the small plate at a table next to them. She folded the cloth so that it wrapped around the cup with the characters on the outside.

"Now hold it like this so the message will be seen by her."

The handmaiden nodded and left. Zhen moved back to the door. She looked in the reflection of another gold statue and saw that Bian was handed the cup. The woman froze for a brief moment when she saw the message. Zhen left the hall and nearly sprinted to the stables. She didn't know if Bian could ride, but she would have to. So she got one of the older and kinder horses saddled. Before she had the chance to get the bridle on, Lady Bian was standing next to her.

"What's going on?"

She held the note in her face.

"Lady Bian, Guo has betrayed us. She's planning against you and Rui."

Zhen knew that that wasn't the entire truth, but she also knew that something might happen to Bian if she didn't leave, even if she was also Zhi's mother.

"I've sent Rui away already and now you have to leave. You'll find Jia and Len's trail going toward He Fei. You'll have to ride fast if you want to catch up to them. If you can't, then just ride toward He Fei."

Lady Bian raised her eyebrows.

"Who do you think taught my Cao Pi to find his way? I can get to He Fei, but I can't ride."

"This horse is old and gentle. She'll take good care of you."

Lady Bian nodded.

"Tell the guards you're going for a ride, or anything that'll get you out of here."

Lady Bian swung into the saddle.

"Wait, what about you?"

She knew that if she told Bian that she wasn't coming, Bian wouldn't go either. So she had no choice but to lie.

"I'm going to follow, but I'm going north to Zhongshan. That way I can draw Guo's attention and lead them away from you and Rui. Then I swing toward He Fei. So you can't wait for me, but don't worry, I'll take the fastest horse."

Bian nodded and awkwardly rode out of the stable. Zhen didn't follow. It would be too suspicious if she was seen getting two parties out of the castle tonight.

Then some voices rang out in the right.

"Now where are you going?"

"Haven't you heard? I'm going out for my night ride. I need fresh air and my maids are working at the feast, but I don't think that I have to explain myself to you!" Bian snapped.

"Just doing my job."

All she heard then was the clapping of horse hooves on the cobblestone. Good, everyone who was in eminent danger was out of Xu Chang now, except for her, but she couldn't leave. Jia and Len would have barely had a chance to go two miles. She needed to stall the discovery of their absence as long as she could. They best way to not be noticed, was to do something not worth being noticed. Either that or do something so ridiculous that is caused so much commotion that it wasted so much time that no one noticed anything else but the chaos. The best thing now, was to not do anything if Guo or Zhi didn't know what she had done already. She would have to come up for a plan for when they did.

She went into her chambers and locked the door behind her so she could think in quiet. It was either going to have to be subtle or something really big. She didn't know how much time she had, but she knew that time would be up when someone would break open the door. Until then, she couldn't let her mind wander from the task before her.

The minutes that dragged by turned into an hour, then two. Hundred of ideas whirled through her, but she settled on only one of them. She had sat on the bed and listened very carefully. Sima Yi had arrived early, but nothing happened other than his arrival. Rui, Bian, Jia and Len must be ten miles away by now and the night was well past half over. Dawn would come in a matter of minutes. There was no escape for her, by now Guo, Zhi and Sima Yi had every exit covered. Her only hope for survival was to either to befriend her enemy, which she would never do. Or she could distance herself from their enemy.

She gathered some of Cao Pi's letters and scattered them before her. She carefully wrote a fake one from Cao to her ordering her to commit suicide so that she could remarry. She got the idea from Len telling her that staying here would be suicide. In a way it would be, but if she could do this convincingly enough, it might not have to be. First she wrote a rough version of the letter, being careful to try and use the same words that Cao would use in such a letter. Then when she had the right words, she carefully rewrote it so that it looked like his handwriting. Every once in a while, she made a mistake and would have to start over. In the end, she came up with what she thought would be a convincing enough of a letter. She knew that Guo was stuck on the idea of Rui not being Cao Pi's son, so that was what the majority of the letter was about. Guo might accept the 'truth' of this letter if it feed of her own ideas.

She was almost brought to tears by the very idea of Cao writing something like this. Zhen had to remind herself that these were her words, not Cao's. She made them up. However, if her plan was going to work, she needed to be emotional. So she let her eyes become wet.

She gathered all the letters and put them back in their places in her desk. Then she gathered all her failed attempts of the letter and put them over the candle on her desk. It was only a matter of time until they found Rui was gone, and if her plan was going to work, she needed to set up a dramatic scene.


	15. Plans and Betrayals in the Final Hours

Plans and Betrayals in the Final Hours

Zhen had to wait until a few hours after sunrise until she could put her plan into effect. It wouldn't make sense for Cao Pi's fake letter to arrive in the middle of the night. So she waited until a little while after the post would have arrived to begin. First she found a dagger from Cao's old wooden chest. Then with letter in one hand and dagger in the other, she started for the northern courtyard. She went to the pond by the bench. She dropped the letter at the base of a tree. Then she splashed some water on her face to give the illusion that she was sweating and crying. She sat on the ground next to the bench and leaned on it for support. She held the dagger in front of her so that anyone would see it.

A group of maids came walking past. Zhen lowered her eyes and began to breathe hard. Her head began to feel light, so she made herself shake to prevent from fainting.

She heard a sound some one of the maids, then a frightful shriek. Their feet began running in all directions. With Cao Pi gone, Sima Yi was now the one in charge. The maids would go to him. One however, approached her from behind very carefully. She was probably trying to sneak up on her, but the maid grabbed the letter and ran off.

The entire castle was soon in an uproar. Words were shouted back and forth from person to person saying that the lord's wife was ordered to kill herself. No one knew how to react. People began saying that they should let her, others said that they should stop her in case he returned and wanted to kill her himself. Still, some others said that it wasn't really Cao Pi's wish for her to die and that they should stop her. A few soldiers were brave enough to approach her and try to talk her out of it. She only screamed and cried. No one was sure at what to do. Good, this was exactly the chaos she needed to cause to give Len, Jia and Bian more time to run.

It wasn't long before Sima Yi showed up with his teenage son, Sima Shi. A whole group of soldiers and servants gathered. She saw Guo standing with Zhi in the back.

"Bring me the letter!" He shouted.

The maid that took the letter came forward and handed it to him. He took a few moments to read it. His eyes were wide with amazement.

"Take her."

Before she could react, the soldiers were upon her. They took the dagger from her grip and pulled her to her feet. All she could do was scream and cry.

"Leave us, all of you!" Sima Yi ordered.

The crowd dispersed. Only Sima Yi, his son, Guo, Zhi and the guards holding her remained.

"What do we do now?" Guo asked.

"She's no more use to us." Sima Yi told them. "If Cao Pi wants her dead than he won't surrender Wei to us for her. Rui's our only hope now, go get him."

Guo nodded and ran off. Before any of the others had a chance for debate, she returned.

"Rui's gone!"

"WHAT?" Sima Yi demanded.

"He's gone! So are her maids!"

"Rui was the only way to get him to surrender. We have to find him. The maids couldn't have gotten far. Send out a search party." Sima Yi ordered.

"Where do we look?" Shi asked.

"Zhongshan." Guo answered. "The maids are from there. If Zhen sent them away so that her son wouldn't be raised by Cao Pi, then that's where they will flee to. They have nowhere else to go."

"Shi, you send your cavalry north. If we can't find Rui then we have to make Cao Pi believe we have him. Don't let anyone find out he's gone. This stays between us."

"So what do we do with Zhen?" Guo asked.

"If we can't find Rui, then she's only hope. Have her write some letters begging for his forgiveness."

No, there was no way that she would do that. She wouldn't let them force her to ruin her plan. Even if this was real, she would never beg anyone for forgiveness. She had too much pride for that. If none of them knew that about her, then they didn't know her at all.

"How can we force her to write?" Zhi asked. "I mean just look at her, she can't write if she wanted to."

Sima Yi turned to Guo,

"You're a woman, you know about this kind of thing. I don't care what you do, just make her write. It has to be in her hand. Cao Pi will know if it's not."

With that being his last words, Sima Yi turned and left with Shi following close behind.

"Come on."

Guo signaled the guards to bring her. She screamed and cried to add to her show. It seemed to be working. All she would have to do is stall long enough the Len and Jia could get Rui to safety. However, now that everyone knew he was gone, that will be a lot harder.

The guards shoved her threw the door into one of the sitting rooms. Guo got out a scroll and a quill. She placed them on the small table in the middle of the room. She pulled out the chairs and sat on the one opposite of the scroll and said;

"Write."

Zhen stood still as a statue. She stood with her chin high and her shoulders square. Tears streamed down her face.

"My lord wants my death. I would be disobeying him if I tried to change his mind now."

"Since when do you care about protocol? You've disobeyed Cao Pi before, do it again."

She didn't answer.

"I said WRITE!" Guo screamed. "Write, or I'll…"

"You'll what? There's nothing you can do to me now. If you kill me than you can't use me to force Cao Pi into surrender, not that he would trade his horse for me."

Guo made an angry sound.

"Not that I blame him, but that's what we're going to change. It would help you if you helped us. If you manage to regain his favor, then you won't have to die. Maybe Sima Shi will take interest in you and make you his wife. Cao Zhi might possibly take you as a concubine. Either way you'll lose your son and you high social status. So you may as well save your life."

Zhen was insulted that Guo even thought she would consider it. Regardless, she forced herself to start trembling, to add to the effect.

"No, my lord wishes my death, I am obliged…"

"Oh shut up! If you won't write to him, then I'll write one for you."

Guo picked up the quill and began scribbling something down. She clearly didn't care if it looked like Zhen's writing or not. She commented on it.

"He'll know that I didn't write it."

"He'll know what kind of emotional state you're in. People always write horribly when they can't control themselves."

She noted Zhen's shaking. After a few minutes she dropped the quill and rolled up the scroll. She stood up and handed it to one of the guards.

"Make sure you personally put this in Cao Pi's hands."

The guard nodded and left.

"Until Cao gets your letter, you'll be kept in the dungeon, where we know you won't be able to do anything to yourself. Personally, I'd love to see you drown yourself, but you may still be of some use to us…"

Guo left. The other guard grabbed her arm and pulled her to the dungeon where he shoved her into a cell and slammed the door shut. Many locks were clasped shut and a chain was wrapped around the square holes in the bared doors for one last defense against anyone who might try to get past. Zhen sat in the corner and rested her eyes. Did she cause enough commotion to distract Cao Zhi and Sima Yi enough for Len and Jia to get Rui to safety? She could only hope so. Although, if she didn't do anything, then maybe they wouldn't have discovered Rui's absence for a few more hours. It was her commotion that made them look for Rui, but now they didn't think that she was any leverage against Cao. For now her life was safe. It wouldn't be worth it if Rui was found.

x

I was almost sundown before a guard came to take her to Sima Yi. Now her shaking wasn't forced for the sake of her scheme, it was her hunger. She hadn't eaten since yesterday afternoon, but it wasn't the heaviest thing on her mind. In a matter of moments, she would find out if her plan succeeded, or failed.

She was brought into the throne room whose mighty balcony overlooked the entire city. She was led over to Cao Pi's throne of gold pillows which was now occupied by Sima Yi with Sima Shi standing next to him. What? Why wasn't Cao Zhi sitting there? By the royal lines of succession, he was the next in line. Unless… Zhen looked to the side and saw his body lying in a heap with his throat sliced open. His life blood had drenched the wall behind him. Sima Yi didn't want Cao Zhi on the throne, _he _wanted the throne! Where was Guo? She wouldn't have let the father of her daughter, Nu Ming, be murdered right in front her. Had Sima Yi killed her too? If he did, then he just rid her of her two biggest enemies, but still managed to become her worst.

"It seems that Cao Pi hasn't responded kindly to the letter Guo sent." Sima Yi started.

"Where is Guo?" She demanded.

"In one of the corners of the city for all I know. She disappeared a little while after Cao Zhi's demise."

"You mean that you killed him."

She shouldn't being feeling angry at Sima Yi for ridding her of him, but she was. By killing Cao Zhi, he betrayed Cao Pi, along with many other ways.

Sima Yi smiled.

"You've always been so blunt."

He turned away from her.

"Is this world Cao Pi envisions of real?"

He spun to face her. Then he looked past her to look out toward the city.

"Cao Pi… Take back the mantle if you can!"

He threw back his head and laughed a blood curdling laugh. Zhen cringed. A few guards came in and dragged Cao Zhi's body away, but his crimson remained. She looked away so she wouldn't have to watch how the limp body moved unnaturally.

"Getting Rui out of the city was cleaver Zhen. Fortunately for you, we haven't managed to find him. You however, you've received another letter from Cao Pi."

He moved over to her and handed her the letter. She tore it open as Sima Yi sat back down on Cao Pi's throne. The letter read;

'_Zhen, I hope that you…'_

"Read aloud. I wish to hear it in your voice." Guo ordered as she marched in the room.

Zhen stared at her. Then she looked at the trail Cao Zhi's blood and the streaks left on the walls. Then back at Guo. Guo didn't know what Sima Yi had done!

"I said, read aloud!" Guo repeated.

She firmed her grip on the scroll and raised it so she could read;

"Zhen, I hope that you realize the truth of this letter. My mind hasn't changed about you or your life. It is still my will that you die regally and unforced by those around you. At sundown tomorrow, I know that none of this will still be a problem for us of the Wei kingdom." She choked out the last words.

Guo laughed happily. Sima Yi seemed troubled, but Zhen Ji didn't notice. She couldn't see and she couldn't hear. He wanted her to die. He wanted her to kill herself. He wanted this for her! What had she done wrong? Guo was the only one to challenge Rui's paternity. She had always been loyal him and whatever secret she had, she told him. She had given him everything she could in the time that she had. Her head spun with thoughts of this manor. Then she realized that it wasn't her thoughts that were spinning, it was her head. Everything was getting blurry. The walls around her wouldn't stand still and the ground beneath her found its way to her shoulder.

x

When Zhen woke up again, she was in the northern courtyard. There was no one around her, but she could hear the sounds of battle. Screams and steel rang out all around her. She looked up at the sky and saw the smoke well before she smelt it. Sima Yi must have had her taken out here.

Cao Pi's letter was still in her grip. She didn't need to read it again. The words echoed in her head like thunder.

"Lady Zhen."

She spun around and saw a guard standing before her holding a tall spear.

"I'm not to stop you from ending your life. Lord Sima Yi says that no one woman can bring a kingdom to it's knees. You're of no more use to him and doesn't care of your fate."

She turned away from him to look at the pond. She noticed that her dagger was sitting right in front of her knees.

Sima Yi didn't care anymore. No one cared. She wasn't of any use to anyone. Why did Cao want her to die? Was he angry at her for sending Rui away with only two maids for protection? Did he doubt that he was Rui's father in the first place? She didn't think that he would ever consider that. He knew that their wedding night was her first time with a man. She had given herself to him first and only. He gave her her first kiss that night in Yecheng, although, she never did tell him that. Maybe she should have. She knew that that hadn't been his first kiss by the way he was so tender, yet sensational.

By now it had been more than a full day since she ate, but she thought she was going to throw up. She was weak, and her head was heavy. Right now, dying did feel like it would be better than anything else she could think of.

She turned to the guard behind her.

"Can I at least be alone?"

"I'm supposed to make sure…"

"You can make sure when you hear nothing but silence. I can't run, you'd hear me and chase me down. Please."

He didn't respond, but there was no way that Zhen was going to do this in front of him. She wanted to die in peace, alone. So many people had forced their way into her life, the Yuans the Caos. In her final minutes, she wanted to be alone.

"Do you have a wife?" She asked.

"Yes." The guard answered uncomfortably.

"If you ordered her to kill herself, would you force her to do it in front of someone so they could tell countless people about it?"

"No… I'll give you an hour."

The guard turned and left. She watched him walk into the castle were he let himself into one of the spare rooms and shut the door behind him.

One hour, she would hardly need that long, she already and many different means of doing it. The dagger alone provided countless ways. There was also the pond and the tree. If she wanted, she could try and find some rope.

She began choking on her own tears. She knew that she didn't have what it took to drown herself as Guo wanted her to. She also knew that she didn't have the strength to find rope, tie it on and climb up the tree. That only left the knife. If the last thing she saw in this world was going to be her own blood, then she wanted to look at the letter one more time. Not to read it, to look at the artistry of his writing.

His writing was beautiful. The last time she admired it like this was at Cao Cao's fortress at Guan Du. That had been the second night he had freed her from Yuan Xi.

_'Her hair is like a veil of black silk flowing after her and covering her face of marble that's somehow hiding the emotions I know she is feeling With every gaze from her gold like eyes comes a breath stealing wind that captivates my soul.'_

Those words of his also rung in her head. Then his latest ones did.

'_Zhen, I hope that you realize the truth of this letter. My mind hasn't changed about you or your life. It is still my will that you die regally and unforced by those around you. At sundown tomorrow, I know that none of this will still be a problem for us of the Wei kingdom.'_

He didn't even have the courtesy to write her a beautifully phrased letter that matched his usual standards. In fact, this letter wasn't like any other he had written. He never referred to her as simply Zhen. He usually wrote 'my dearest wife', or 'my beautiful flower'. Just Zhen was so cold compared to the others he came up with.

What happened to them? Where did they go wrong? From the moment they first laid eyes on each other, she knew he was different from any other man she had known. He couldn't take his eyes off her at her and Xi's wedding, and she couldn't take her attention away from him. She remembered how her heart leaped from her chest every time she saw he was still staring, and she remembered how she never wanted him to look away. She also remembered how that same stare from those same eyes took her heart one year ago when their son, _their son_, was born. Rui had the look of his father, how could Cao even consider Rui wasn't his? He knew how Xi was with Lang Shui, his male lover. Xi had never taken her. Neither did Wang Bo. Was there something wrong with her that no man wanted her? She had a stunning face and a perfect build, but in the end, it seems to have caused her more harm than good.

"What would have happened to me if Yuan Shao never got word of my pretty face?" She wondered aloud.

She would have probably married one of her father's friend's sons and lived a peaceful life away from politics and the pressures of the court. She could have had a house-full of children without hearing any gossip over the paternity. She wouldn't have had to deal with gossip and protocol. All she would have to worry about was their health, the house and her family.

Why couldn't Wang Bo just have sent the message! It's been two years since she saw her family. Two years, and now it was too late for her to ever see them again. Did they hate her so much that they couldn't even come to visit her? It was no secret, where she was. She had been here for the last two years of her life, the very last.

In the end, all she was was a pretty face. She was doomed to suffer the same fate as Lu Bu's beautiful Diao Chan. Both their beauty brought them their death. If only she would have been born ugly, then she wouldn't have to die like this.


	16. The End of Zhen Ji

The End of Zhen Ji

Zhen remembered that she wanted to see the letter one last time. Maybe this time she wouldn't be interrupted by her own thoughts.

'_I hope that you realize the truth of this letter.'_

Yes, she knew the truth, he wanted her to die.

'_My mind hasn't changed about you or your life.'_

Hold on! How could Cao even know about the suicide note? She had written it, and when Guo wrote one for her, she never directly mentioned it. All she wrote was I'm sorry and I can change… She never said 'suicide' and 'note' together, or at all for that matter.

'_It is still my will that you die regally and unforced by those around you.'_

Ugh, she was such an idiot, this was no suicide letter, it was a code! Dying regally didn't mean suicide. It couldn't. She wasn't royal. She didn't have any royal title. Unforced, meant he didn't want her to be murdered. If he sent her a suicide note, then _he_ would be murdering her.

'_At sundown tomorrow, I know that none of this will still be a problem for us of the Wei kingdom.'_

Us of the Wei kingdom? It sounded as if he was including her. If he didn't mean to include her, he would have said; _'Those us at in the Wei kingdom'_. Sundown tomorrow, what did that mean? Was that when he was arriving at Xuchang to take care of everything? Or was that when he expected to have everything taken care of already?

She looked up at the sun. It was only a two hours until sundown. She was such an idiot. Why couldn't she figure this out sooner before she exhausted her mind with these thoughts of zero self-worth? What could she do about it now? She only assumed that Rui was still alive, and if he wasn't, then she didn't want to be either. All she knew was that she had to get out of here. How? She barely had the strength to hold her head up, how could she outrun a strong soldier? She still had a few minutes before he would come out from the spare room.

With as much strength as she could muster, she stood up, still holding the dagger and the letter, and tried to move south. That would take her out of the castle and into the city. She didn't know if she was walking or running, the world spun too badly for her to know. Then she saw the guard running at her. She knew she couldn't take him. So she threw the dagger as hard as she could. She saw a flash of red arise from his chest. He fell into the pool with a splash of reddened water.

Zhen sank to her knees. She had just killed a soldier of Wei. He may have been loyal to Sima Yi, but he was loyal to Cao Pi at one time. No, she couldn't think about this now, he made his choice, and he chose to betray her when he betrayed Cao Pi.

To get out of the castle, she would have to get her blood to run high. That was the only way to muster the energy she needed. So she closed her eyes and thought of all the battles she had been a part of. First there was the invasion at Yecheng. Then there was the battle of Guan Du. Third was Chi Bi. Lastly, there was the Wu Zhang plains and now there was the battle for Xuchang. She imagined all the people at the wrong end of her bow and her flute. The last one had been Yue Ying. Zhen spared Ying's life, and know she was about to lose her own.

She felt the determination flow in her veins. She let out a breath and pushed the ground away from her. She ignored how the world spun and the pain in her head. She started down the halls. Sima Yi would have most likely had the castle locked up from invaders hours ago, but she found a way. There was a back staircase behind the throne room. Not many people knew about it. She stalked up the stairs to the throne room, which was now deserted. She ran across it and went through the arch that led to the western side of the castle. Before her was the stairs. She started running. The more she ran the easier it was. When she got to the bottom of the stairs, she found bodies spread before her. They looked like the elite cavalry. Cao Zhang was in charge of the cavalry. She had talked with him before and she knew he was trust worthy, but there were no live men before her. He was either gone, or dead.

Then there was a sound. Zhen jumped and spun to face the source. A tall dark brown horse stood under the shade of a tree. The reins were tangled in the branches, but the horse wasn't hurt.

Maybe fortune did smile upon her.

She went over to the horse and pulled the reins free. Then she flipped them over the horse's ears and climbed up into the saddle. She took hold of the reins and kicked the horse's sides. The horse trotted along the city walls. Before her now was the western courtyard.

"Heya!"

She galloped the horse into the trees and rode right past the battle grounds. She continued south toward the main gates. Hundreds of men were marching past her, but she went unnoticed. She made it to Cao Pi's camp. All that separated her from it was a tall hill and the open gate. The horse climbed the hill with rough lengthened strides. She rode through the gate to find a whole crowd of soldiers gathering around her. None of them knew what to do. Then there was a loud shout.

She looked.

"Lady Bian?"

Bian ran to her side and held up her arms. Zhen feel into them like how a child would fall into her parent's arms, like how she used to when her father helped her down off her horse. Lady Bian barked orders at the soldiers around them. Then Bian took her into one of the large tents. Zhen recognized it as Cao Pi's. His large bed was in the middle of the wood floor. Two chests sat neatly in the corner. There was a bowl and basin atop of a narrow table. It was the same set up as Yecheng. Zhen sat down on the bed. Bian picked up the bowl of water and the spare white cloth sitting next to it. Bian sat next to her.

"You're either the dumbest or bravest woman I know."

Zhen smiled, but that quickly vanished when Bian pressed the wet cloth to the shoulder she landed on when she passed out.

"What happened?" Bian asked her. "Cao Pi received some kind of letter from you begging his forgiveness. We thought you killed yourself. Then when we got here, Sima Yi threatened to kill you unless Cao Pi surrendered to him."

Zhen laid down on the bed. She was very tired, but she didn't sleep.

"The morning after you and the others left, I forged a letter from Cao saying that he wanted me to kill myself."

Bian gasped.

"I only did it so that Sima Yi would think that I meant nothing to Cao. Then I couldn't be used as leverage against him. Guo wrote a letter begging his forgiveness so that they could regain his favor to me. Then they were going to use me to force him to give up Wei, but Cao sent a letter telling me that he didn't change his mind. I thought he really did want me to take my life, but then I realized that it was phrased in a way that told me he was coming to…"

"Of Zhen, I was there when Cao opened that letter, he went into an uproar. He didn't understand what was going on. The scout reminded him of 'his' previous letter. I've never seen my son so upset. That's when I and the maids left."

"He must have figured out my plan and sent me the real letter. Please tell me Rui and the maids made it to Cao."

She grabbed Bian's hand and stared at her. Bian smiled.

"Yes, they made it and they told Cao everything they knew. When I showed up, he was waiting for me with Rui in his arms. He asked many questions and I answered them as best I could. I barely took him four hours to have the army assembled and moving here. I've never seen him so nervous. I've sent a scout to tell him to get back to the camp as soon as he can."

"What about Rui? Where is he?"

"He's with Jia and Len a few tents away from here."

Zhen closed her eyes and sighed in great relief.

"I want to see him."

"Pi or Rui?"

"Both."

"Not until you get some sleep. I'll have the maids get you some food and tea."

"No need to send for us, we gathered everything you could possibly need."

Len and Jia walked in. Both of them carried large trays filled with food and tea cups. Zhen sat up and took some bread. She was hungry, thirty and exhausted all at the same time. Bian and the maids talked while she ate. After a while, she fell asleep.

x

Sleep was the last thing she needed, and she woke up what must have been close to an hour after she first arrived at the camp. She felt much better now. She sat up and found that Rui and Jia were sitting on the bed next to her.

"Rui!"

"Momma!"

Rui leaped into her arms. She held him tight and rocked him back and forth.

"Do you have any idea how much I missed you?" She asked.

She kissed his forehead. When she looked up again, she saw the unmistakable figure of her husband. She let Rui go and ran out to meet him. She met him at a run and swung her arms around his neck. He held her waist and spun her around. When he let her back down, he ran his hands through her hair. She traced his well-groomed jaw line with the tips of her fingers.

"When you weren't in the castle, I thought the worst." He confessed. "Then I got mother's message… Oh Zhen you have no idea what was going through my mind when I got that letter."

He cupped her face in his hands and pressed her forehead against his. She closed her eyes. They shared breaths for a while before she responded to him.

"Guo wrote that one. You have no idea what was going through my mind when I got your letter."

He pulled away from her.

"I'm thankful that this is all over, but now I have to discuss with my council on what to do with those who betrayed me. I just wanted to make sure you were alright before I left."

She nodded in understanding.

"I'm perfectly fine now. I'll wait here for you."

"And I'll be back before midnight."

He gave her one last passionate kiss and slipped something into her hand before turning and leaving. Zhen held up her hand and opened her palm. Her mother's necklace was there. She smiled as she put it on before she turned and went back into the tent. Rui was having Jia play a hand game with him. Zhen sat down next to them.

"What did Cao say?"

"He's going to discuss with the council what to do about Sima Yi and the others."

"What others?" Lady Bian asked as she came in.

"Guo and… and Sima Yi's generals."

Bian nodded and took a sat by them on the bed. Zhen was suddenly glad that Sima Yi murdered Cao Zhi, then Lady Bian would never have to know about her son's betrayal.

Rui gleamed from all the 'attention' he was getting. He had his mother, grandmother and Jia, who served as his playmate all to himself and he took advantage of it. Even though he was only a child, he managed to keep all three women busy. After a while, he began to get fussy when any one of them took their attention away from him. He was clearly getting tired.

"I think that it is time for you to go to bed." Zhen told him.

"Nooooo!" He argued.

She held out her arms for him. He crawled over to her and sat down on her lap. She gently scratched his back. It was their routine every night, and Rui clearly didn't forget it. It took a while, but the soothing rhythm of her fingers made his eyes droopy. At this time, she normally made him some sort of promise about some adventure they could have in the morning that he would forget about. This time, she didn't know what the morning would bring.

"Come Rui, tonight you shall sleep in your own tent. Then in the morning daddy will be back."

That she knew, but she didn't know how much spare time he would have for them.

"Nooo."

His wine was soft and tired. She gathered him in her arms. His arms and legs remained limp. His head leaned against her shoulder. Jia led her over to where Rui's tent was set up. Rui no longer slept in a crib. Now he slept in a low set round bed with soft blue sheets. The bed was only as tall as her thighs, but it was big enough for a full grown man. She laid him down in the center of the bed and pulled the sheets over him.

"Sleep well my Rui."

She kissed him on the forehead one last time before turning to walk back to Cao's tent. She came to Shao Len on the way.

"Oh there you are. I was beginning to worry."

Len smiled sheepishly.

"After everything that happed today, you should be more worried about your own well-being. I was bringing you a change of clothes when I saw Guo from a distance. She's not in a well state, but that's to be expected."

Len handed her the bundle she was carrying.

"Thank you Len. I'm not sure what tomorrow will be like, so make sure you get some sleep."

Len nodded.

x

Zhen woke up early the next morning. With a groan, she rolled over. The sun shined brightly in her face. Did she leave the flap of the tent open? She peeled her eyes open and found Cao Pi sitting on the front stairs of the tent reading a book. He had the book in one hand and a cup of tea in the other. She got off the bed and went over to him. She sat down next to him and rested her cheek on his shoulder. He put the book down and kissed her forehead.

"Tea?" He offered.

"No, thank you though. What happened with the council last night?"

He let out a sigh.

"Oh Zhen, the world works in such mysterious ways."

"What happened?" She asked a little more urgently.

"We took Sima Yi and his sons, but I'm not sure what to do with them. Lady Guo showed up, but acted like she knew nothing of the rebellion. It was really quite amusing. Then we found Cao Zhi's body. Guo almost lost herself in her grief at that discovery."

"Cao Zhi is Nu Ming's father." She blurted.

Cao Pi gave her a look.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, there's no doubt about it. I heard them talking. They both know that Zhi was the father."

"Then he's lucky he died when he did." Cao Pi stated.

"What are you going to do about Guo?"

"Nothing, as far as everyone knows, Ming is still mine. Don't worry Zhen, I'm moving my capital to Luoyang. We'll leave as soon as I'm done here. Guo will be staying in Xu Chang."

"And what of Sima Yi?"

"I'm sparing him."

Zhen leaped to her feet.

"What? You can't possibly consider that after what he did."

He stood up to match her.

"Zhen I need him. It's only a matter of time until Emperor Xian surrenders his throne to me. Sima Yi may be like a wild horse, but he's no Red Hare. He's tamable, and I need him as my strategist when I seize the empire."

She was silenced for a few moments. So Cao spoke again.

"And… he helped me secure my position as Cao Cao's heir. Cao Zhi was coming dangerously close, but Sima Yi was able to convince father that I was the right one to choose."

"You're after the Emperor's throne, and you think that Sima Yi can sweet talk the emperor just like he did to your father?"

"Zhen, who is more deserving of it? I've quelled Wu and Shu. I've even stopped Sima Yi's rebellion. I've proven that I can conquer anyone that would rise against me. The Emperor has done nothing for years. He knows this. He's weak and he won't deny me the throne. Especially since it was Wei to unite his kingdom."

"Then can Sima Yi stay in Xu Chang too?"

"Why?"

"Because he'll haunt me the rest of my life. Every time I look at him I'll think of what he threatened to do to Rui. If not for me, then do it for Rui. He can't grow close to the man that tried to kill him and neither can I."

"Zhen, you don't have to. I've come up with an idea. Both Sima Yi and Guo think that you're dead. There was a body found in the northern courtyard. Guo was delighted. Then I found that it was one of Sima Yi's soldiers. That's when the idea came to me… Zhen Ji, you did die. You received a letter from me ordering you to commit suicide. That's how history will remember you, but if you take a new name, then you can come with me to Luoyang. I'll make Guo my empress and take you, with your new name, as a concubine. That way no one will pay very close attention to you at all."

She stared into his eyes.

"It would work Zhen. You'd be with me in Luoyang and as a concubine, you can still be with Rui. Everything would remain the same except…"

"My name." She finished.

There were only two things that she didn't like about this plan. One was that she had to give up her name. Her name was always something she was proud of. The other was that she didn't like the idea of Guo being empress. If anyone deserved to be empress, Zhen did. She was the one to fight by his side and she gave him his heir, but he was right. Now that she was dead, Guo was the next in line to become empress. Those two things were the only bad part of his plan. Otherwise, it was perfect.

"Have you come up with any ideas for my new name?" She asked him.

He smiled and hugged her close.

"I knew that you would agree. Guo may be joyful in her victory, but it's like you said about Zhi, what better punishment than letting her stay close enough to the court so that she knows what is going on, but can't be involved? Only this time, she would be in a position to be involved, only I will keep her in Xu Chang, so that she can't. All she could do is write to me, and if she does have another child, everyone will know it isn't mine. Then nothing could stop me from divorcing her."

"She'll be trapped in a corner." Zhen concluded. "The only thing left to do is prepare my funeral, but we can't use the soldier. We'll have to find a close substitute."

"Yes, but that won't be too hard. We can give your friends from the brothel a visit." He mocked.

She gave him a playful shove so that he was at arm's distance.

"Well now that I can have a new life, maybe I won't go to Luoyang with you." She combated.

Cao only smiled.


	17. The Beginning of Lady Yin

The Beginning of Lady Yin Ji

"Are you ready…" Lady Bian paused. "Lady Yin?"

Zhen wasn't warming up to the name Yin, her new family name, but at least she kept her birth name, Ji. This wasn't going to be easy. She had to train her mind to respond to Yin and not to Zhen, but first she was going have to change her appearance before she could convince her mind of who she actually was.

She nodded, ever so slightly. It was good she never got into the habit of calling Lady Bian 'mother'. It was only recently that she called her simply 'Bian' and it wouldn't be too hard to call her 'Lady Bian' again. In fact, that would probably be the easiest part of her transformation.

Lady Bian pulled Zhen's hair out from its usual ponytail. The black veil almost fell to her knees, at least it would have if she wasn't sitting on a stool in Cao Pi's tent. Len and Jia stood to the side and watched with grim faces.

Zhen didn't move, nor did she feel that she had to close her eyes, as Bian took the knife to her hair. The blade made shearing sounds as it cut. Ribbons of hair fell to the ground. Zhen forced herself to think of what Luoyang must be like. If Cao was moving his capital there from Xuchang, then it must be a magnificent city, one of the best in all the land. Within a few weeks it would become the national capital, not just the capital of Wei. It would be the capital of Wei Han. Luoyang, the capital of Cao Wei, even the name sounded intriguing.

"There."

She had succeeded in distracting herself long enough for Bian to finish. She immediately noticed how much lighter her head was. How much did Bian take off?

"We're going to have to change more than just my hair." She told her.

Bian continued her work. She lined her eyes with brown and covered her mole with face paint.

"Done." Lady Bian announced. "I don't want to change too much. There will still be a lot of people who will see you at Luoyang. I'm only doing enough that Guo and Sima Yi won't recognize you from a distance."

"Do we have a mirror?" She requested.

Jia moved in front of her and handed her one. She raised it and looked at herself. Lady Bian had cut some bangs that followed her jaw line faithfully. Her hair now only reached to the small of her back. It hadn't been that short in a long time. Her face looked completely different, but not as different as it did when she disguised herself as a whore. The memory would have made her smile, but she couldn't get herself to.

She lowered the mirror, now she truly was Lady Yin Ji.

Yin realized that she hadn't reacted yet. The maids and Lady Bian were all watching her carefully, looking for something that would give her emotions away.

"Well, it will be easier to maintain." She stated, referring to her hair.

"And this makes you look so much younger." Len added.

Yin smiled.

"Thank you Lady Bian."

"Now change your clothes so you may make your grand entrance as Lady Yin Ji." Len told her.

Len handed her another bundle of clothing. The three women left to give her some privacy. Yin stripped down and put on the new dress. It was a soft gold color with deep purple. Then Yin slipped her black heeled shoes on. Lastly, she put on her mother's necklace and tucked it under the collar of her shirt. She was ready now, but she wasn't sure if it was a good idea for her to leave just yet. It wouldn't make sense for Cao to bring a concubine with him here, but she wanted to be there. She wanted to see if Cao was really going to spare Sima Yi.

She and Lady Bian left the camp and went into Xuchang. The gates to the city were open, but the guards had to open the side gates of the palace for them. They didn't want to enter from the main gate. They went down the halls and emerged into the courtyard. Lady Yin and Lady Bian stopped so that they stood just under the hoof of the castle at the top of the stairs. They could hear any word that was whispered thanks to the layout of the castle.

Lady Guo was nowhere to be seen. She was probably lying low and trying to draw as little attention to herself as possible. If someone spent enough time, they could more than likely find her watching from one of the castle windows. This is why Yin didn't draw any attention to herself either. If Guo was out there somewhere watching, Yin didn't want to be found out by her.

Sima Yi sat on his feet with his eyes closed and his head bowed in the middle of the southern courtyard. His hands were tied behind his back. Two true soldiers of Wei stood in front of him to hold him at sword point. The sight made Lady Yin smile.

Cao Pi went down the stairs of the castle and crossed the courtyard. He approached Sima Yi from the side with his sword drawn, the sword that he had been given on their wedding night. He stopped at Sima Yi's back.

"Humph, so my path ends here… does it?" Sima Yi asked with a sarcastic voice.

Lady Yin felt her face turn red in anger. Did Sima Yi still not take Cao Pi seriously? If there was ever a time to, it was now. Sima Yi, was facing his judgment. He should be begging for Cao's forgiveness.

Cao Pi didn't respond to Sima Yi's comment. He didn't want to give Sima Yi the satisfaction of his reaction. Instead he began to wind his sword for the attack. Yin stopped breathing for a moment. He was going to do it. He was going to execute Sima Yi! Good, he deserved it.

That moment seemed to last an eternity. Finally, there was a swish of steel slicing through the air. Not another sound was made for a long moment. Some of the blue uniformed soldiers closed their eyes as they winced at the moment it happened, but Lady Yin didn't even blink. She wanted to see Sima Yi's demise. She wanted to see his body go limp at Cao Pi's feet, just as Yuan Xi's body had.

Then Sima Yi sat up, ever so slightly. Lady Yin's heart sank.

"Sima Yi, I told you before. The world my father saw and the one that I sought for myself, requires that of ability."

The ropes holding his hands feel to the ground. Cao Pi turned and walked around back toward the stairs.

Lady Yin close her eyes and lowered her chin. She knew that Cao saw her reaction, but she didn't care. Why hadn't he just killed him? Sima Yi proved himself to be untrustworthy. Any other man would have been executed without a second thought. What made Sima Yi different from the others? Why was Sima Yi so different for Cao?

"Curse you, you Caos are, mere fools." Sima Yi muttered.

Cao Pi stopped and turned around.

"And yet, you have been conquered by a fool." He combated.

"Only for the time being."

"Sima Yi, you are a smart man. I know that you are, and that is why I know that you'll never rebel against me again. You've seen your plans fail and you've learned better than to challenge me."

With that being the final words spoken between them, Cao Pi walked the rest of the way up the stairs. He walked right past her and Bian. Yin turned to follow, but Bian grabbed her arm.

"As his wife you could follow him, as his concubine he must call you." She reminded.

Yin made an angry sound. It took a few minutes, but everyone eventually dispersed. Lady Yin made sure to take her leave before Sima Yi got too close. It was too dangerous for her to stay in Xu Chang any longer than she absolutely had to. So she and Lady Bian left for the camp just south of the city gates.

Rui hadn't been permitted to come to the 'execution'. So he, Len and Jia were all in Lady Bian's tent. As soon as they walked through the tent's entry, she pulled her hair away from her face so that Rui would be more able to recognize her. Unlike everyone else in Xuchang, Rui recognized her immediately. He bounded over to her. She kneeled down and let him run into her arms. It wouldn't be much longer until Rui would grow too big for her to hold him, so she wanted to hold him as much as she could until then.

She carried him over to over to one of the single beds that had been set up and placed him on her lap.

x

Zhen Ji's funeral took place a few days later, but Lady Yin didn't attend. Not many people did. Lady Bian was one of the few among them. She didn't know whose body was being used for her. What she did know was that Guo suggested that her hair covered her face and fill her mouth with rice so that she couldn't complain in the afterlife. However, that had been Cao Pi's plan all along. It was the perfect way to avoid the face of the body from being seen.

By now many people knew that Cao Pi had taken a concubine. Many people had a hard time believing that he would at all. Everyone knew how close he had been to Lady Zhen. The only way they accepted Lady Yin was the fact that Cao Pi ordered Zhen to take her life.

Yin was riding a tall black stallion named Shadow. She couldn't ride Cloud anymore. If she was going to be with Rui, then she couldn't keep Cloud. That would probably give her away. Cao Pi was riding a little ways ahead of her on Ginger. He had Rui sitting in front of him in the saddle. Rui was more than happy to ride with his father. He had a broad smile on his face that was shaken with every step Ginger took. His fingers pulled at Ginger's mane. Cao Pi kept an arm wrapped around the boy's waist and held the reins in the other.

Bian was riding the same old horse she rode to get to Hefei. It seemed that she really took to the horse.

They rode right through the afternoon and stopped to make camp that night. Cao Pi and Cao Rui shared the main tent. Yin was put in a tent with Bian and the maids. It was strange to be apart from Cao Pi, and she knew that he wouldn't call for her. It wouldn't make sense to. Everyone knew how much he loved her when she was Zhen Ji. No one would believe that he took a new concubine a few days after the funeral and had a child with her right away. She longed for the time when they could be together again without having to worry about suspicion or worry to keep her identity safe.

Although, this was the best chance she would ever have to spend with her mother-in-law. Besides, Lady Bian needed company since she, Len and Jia would be the only familiar faces beyond Pi and Rui. Cao wanted Bian to leave her maids in Xuchang so that they wouldn't leak the information about Yin. Bian didn't know them long enough to trust them with that secret.

Yin wouldn't say so, but this was also a good opportunity to see if Cao did have any 'fatherly' skills. If she didn't hear any crying, she would be impressed. If there was some, then that would be normal. If there was a lot, then Rui was in a bad mood, but if Cao had to send for her or Bian, she wouldn't be so impressed.

Since there were only four of them, they all went to gather some food and tea for dinner. They returned to the tent with some meat buns and a pot of hot tea. They ate while they talked about anything and everything they wanted. Most of what they did discuss was the palace at Luoyang. Bian talked of how she didn't expect Luoyang to be as decorated as Xu Chang had been.

"With my pottery and Yin's painting, we should have the place looking more like a home." Bian decided.

They continued on. Yin head a child's fussing. It didn't sound too excessive and it was only a few more minutes before Rui was silenced. Yin smiled to herself.

x

Although Consort Yin couldn't share a room with Cao Pi, they still managed by keeping most of her things in _her_ chambers. No one would question them. They were simply lord and consort. Yin didn't like her new title, but at least they could still be together. She also didn't like the fact that even if her family decided to finally contact her, she wouldn't be able to see them since it would be impossible to keep that meeting a secret.

Cao Pi was lying on his bed. Lady Yin sat on stop of him with a knee next to either of his hips. She was just out of his reach. She leaned down and took hold of both his hands. She gently bushed her lips against him, but didn't let him have a long taste. This proved to be too much for Cao. He grabbed her waist and flipped them so he was on top.

"Why do you tease me so?"

She only smiled slightly. He was ready, she could feel it against her skin, but not yet. She still wanted something from him. To give him a hint of her desire, she found that spot on his neck right by his ear. He let out a groan. She savored it. Then she titled her chin back as he began to cover her neck with kisses and let another sigh escape from her. Her hands glided from his neck to his chest and then down his abs. His hands followed her arms down her lungs to her hips. Then his hands worked their way to the inside of her thighs and slowly peeled her legs apart. She sighed again as he made his entrance. She gasped when he released his seed.

It was intoxicating ever time, but there was never any pain from him. He was never too forceful, but he could be and she knew that. However, she would never let him inside her again if he was. He probably knew that too.

Her body began to ache, but her stamina was impressive. She wouldn't show signs of fatigue. She didn't want him to know the extent of her satisfaction. She wanted him to feel small, but they both knew that he wasn't.

Cao was the first one to give in. He sank onto his back next to her. They both breathed hard.

x

Nine months later…

The first child to be born to Lady Yin was a daughter named Dong Xiang.

One day, Lady Guo wrote to Cao Pi telling him that she wanted to know who was this new concubine was since she, in her 'loving nature' wanted to make sure that this knew woman could be trusted. She also said that she wanted to come to Luoyang. Cao Pi responded;

'_I don't think that I will ask your opinion on child paternity. As far as coming to Luoyang goes, I hear that you are quite happy in Xuchang and I wouldn't want to ruin that for you. So stay in Xu Chang with your daughter. If I ever wish you to join me, then I'll write to you.'_

Yin laughed when he showed it to her. She gave him the letter back and sat down on the couch of the sitting room they were in. Unlike when Rui had been a baby, Xiang was hardly ever quiet, but at the moment, she was.

x

Three years later…

There was another child on the way. Xiang was turning three very soon and Rui was five years old. Cao Rui was growing to be the living memory of Cao Pi's childhood in Lady Bian's words. His father was teaching him how to ride his horse, Cloud, while his mother was teaching him to paint. She wanted Rui to learn his calligraphy from his father. Then he might learn his father's perfect writing.

Their days had become simple, but much more chaotic than before the children. Now that Cao Pi was on the verge of becoming emperor, he spent countless hours with his court officials. That left Yin to take care of the two children during the day. She got plenty of help from Len and Jia. When the evening came, Cao would come to wherever it was that they were. He was growing closer and closer to his son every day. Yin knew that Rui would be pronounced as his heir.

Of course, there was also Lady Bian to consider. Her health took a turn for the worse and breathing became difficult for her. Lady Yin helped when she could, but that only came to an hour or so a day.

"You should be with Rui and Xiang." Bian often told her.

"Rui and Xiang are with Len and Jia. They're fine." Was how she responded.

It was their ritual. Bian would tell her to leave, but Yin never did.

By the end of the day, Yin was exhausted. Most days she was so tired that she couldn't stay awake long enough for Cao to tell her the matters of the court. She still kept informed by talking with Bian during the day.

Lady Bian's health finally gave way. She died after a week of illness. She was buried as Cao Cao's empress dowager. The funeral itself was grand. Many people gathered. Yin's only regret was that she didn't live long enough to see her final grandchild.

When it was approaching the time for the third child to be born, Cao Pi was made the Emperor of Wei Han. Yin thought that this would only make him that much busier, but he actually had more free time now that he wasn't trying to gain support from different officials.

Their third and final child was a son they named Cao Xie.


	18. Credits

Alright everyone that's it. First of all, special thanks to shadow- the black queen and kick-it aus style-mals for your many reviews and everyone else that gave me any!

I feel like I have some explaining to do, so I'll get started. This story was supposed to be what Zhen Ji's musou mode would be like if she had one in DW6. I had her use a bow because I don't really like the whole iron whip thing. I also had her use her flute because I REALLY miss it from DW5. She didn't take part in a whole bunch of battles because I got bored with it, yeah it's that simple.

I wanted to stay historically accurate, but I didn't want Zhen to die, so I hope that this is a good ending for her. As far as Dong Xiang, I know that part is lame, but when I realized that I totally forgot about her, it was too late. Oops. There's no open ends, so sadly, there's not going to be a sequel. *tear. But I might go back and add some more stuff if I think the story needs it. I wrote this one pretty fast and didn't think about it very much. Sorry for the parts that sucked, Chi Bi for instance. I was just trying to give Zhen a reason to hate Zhuge Liang more than anything.

Anyway, I'm not sure what my next story will be. I've started one about Xing Cai and I'm thinking about Diao Chan. I also started doing some research about Nu Wa. I don't own the orochi games, so it's hard for me to really see what kind of person she is in the games. Oh well. If I do one about Nu Wa, it would probably be the equivalent of her own musou mode in DW6. Xing Cai would also be her musou mode in DW6, IF SHE WAS EVEN IN DW6! If I did Diao Chan, I would change her story from DW6. It would probably start off with her and Lu Bu. Then I would make her defect to Shu since she also wants to restore the Han. Of course, she would fall in love with Liu Bei and all that. Plus twists and heart break and all that drama.

Let me know what you think. Especially if you want one more than another because I'm really not sure what to do next. You guys are awesome and your opinions matter to me! Thanks for the reviews, they make bad days good, even if they are helpful criticisms. They give me a new way to look at things and I really enjoy that. So keep them coming!


	19. BREAKING NEWS!

Okay, so I'm sure that you've noticed that I've made some changes to the story (the part about Dong Xiang for instance) and a few grammar/spelling. Why? I've gotten a lot of awesome reviews for this story fairly recently that have been so awe inspiring that… well… I'M MAKING A SEQUEL!

Yes, I've decided that the 'happily ever after' ending isn't enough and I'm going to throw a few more challenges Zhen's way.

I realize that Cao Pi and Zhen Ji were both already dead by the battle of Wuzhang, but oh well. Since Wuzhang was like, the last battle in the games, I'm going to go into how Wei united all of China, except it will be Cao Pi to do it. Of course, the Sima family will be butting in as usual.

I'll try and keep my balance between actually history, the games and my own crazy creativity!

I have an idea of what I want to do as far as the plot in concerned, but if any of you know anything about Cai Wenji, please tell me! I've seen pictures and I know that she was a tied to the imperial family or something, but giving me a character description of her in the games would be AMAZING! I have a place for her in the plot, but it would really be hard if I have idea what she's like.

So if you want to help me, that's how to do it. I would be extremely thankful!

Oh, and by the way, the sequel will be called 'The Legend, Loyalty and Laments of Zhen Ji', but I'm going to finish 'The Star of Shu Han' before I start it though. So 'The Star of Shu Han' fans, don't worry, I'll finish it and 'The Life, Love and Losses of Zhen Ji' fans, now you'll have something to look forward to!

See you then,

Lady Grasshopper


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